LIBRARY  OF  THE 
UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
AT  URBANA-CHAMPAICN 

973.7114 
B59n 


I.H.8. 


NARRATIVE 


RIOTS    AT    ALTON: 


- 


IN  CONNECTION  WITH  THE 


DEATH  OF  REV.  ELIJAH  P.  LOVEJOY. 


BY  REV.  EDWARD   BEECHER, 

PRESIDENT  OF  ILLINOIS  COLLEGE. 


^      ALTON: 

PUBLISHED    BY    GEORGE    HOLTON. 
1838. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1838, 

BY    GEORGE    HOLTON, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  of  Ohio. 


/3  3  f  7&*Z 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


Three  months  ago,  a  manuscript  copy 
of  the  following  narrative  was  prepared  for 
publication,  mailed  at  Jacksonville,  Illinois, 
and  directed  to  New- York,  to  be  there 
printed.  It  never  arrived  at  the  place  of  its 
destination,  and  must  either  have  been  lost 
or  otherwise  disposed  of.  This  explains  the 
delay  in  the  publication  of  the  Narrative. 

The  publisher  is  aware  that  it  would 
have  been  received  with  more  avidity,  if  it 
had  been  issued  immediately  after  the  tran- 
saction to  which  it  refers ;  but  he  feels  con- 
fident, that  the  plan  of  the  work,  and  the 
train  of  thought  pursued  by  its  author,  will 
^sustain  its  claim,  independently  of  the  in- 
terest growing  out  of  merely  transient  or 

3 


4  ADVERTISEMENT. 

local  excitements,  to  the  serious  attention 
of  an  intelligent  public.  Facts  are  herein 
detailed,  which  have  not  heen  hitherto 
developed;  and  the  general  views  taken 
of  the  anti-slavery  discussion,  and  its  gen- 
eral hearings  on  the  moral  interests  of  the 
world,  are  striking,  and  in  many  respects 
original. 

THE  PUBLISHER. 


ERRATA. 

Page  32,  14th  line  from  the  bottom,  (or,  "I  could  yesterday,"  read,  "  Jf  I 

eould." 

Page  33,  3d  line  from  the  top,  for,  "  the  nature  and,"  read,  ""nature  and  the." 
Pace  30,  3d  line  from  the  bottom,  for,  "  will  siill  t  rust,"  rend,  "  will  still  treat." 
Page  41   10th  line  from  the  bottom,  for,  "  national."  read,  "  rational." 
Paire  43,  loth  Imp  from  the  bottom,  for,  "  all  its  members,  read,  "any  ofitt 

member* 


Page 


40.  2d  line  from  tlio  top,  for,  "  then"  road,  "  there." 

00,  Jiith  line  from  the  top,  for,  "  sound,"  toad,  "sncred." 


ALTON  RIOTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

IT  often  happens  that  events,  in  themselves  of 
no  great  importance, -are  invested  with  unusual  in- 
terest in  consequence  of  their  connection  with  prin- 
ciples of  universal  application,  or  with  momentous 
results.  Of  this  kind  are  the  events  which  preced- 
ed and  led  to  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Elijah  P.  Love- 
joy  :  the  first  martyr  in  America  to  the  great  prin- 
ciples of  the  freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press. 

Of  these  events  I  propose  in  the  following  pages 
to  give  an  account.  The  facts  are  of  a  nature  suf- 
ficiently astounding  in  any  age,  or  at  any  time. 
The  destruction  of  four  printing  presses  in  succes- 
sion; the  personal  abuse  of  the  editor,  from  time  to 
time  by  repeated  mobs;  and  his  final  and  premedi- 
tated murder  ! 

Still  more  astounding  are  they  when  we  consider 
the  country  in  which  they  occurred.  Had  it  been 
in  revolutionary  France;  or  in  England,  agitated 
by  the  consequent  convulsion  of  the  nations;  there 
had  been  less  cause  for  surprise.  But  it  was  not. 
It  was  in  America — the  land  of  free  discussion  and 
equal  rights. 

A  2  S 


6  ALTON   RIOTS. 

Still  more  are  we  amazed  when  we  consider  the 
subjects,  the  discussion  of  which  was  thus  forcibly 
arrested.  Had  it  been  an  effort  to  debauch  and 
pollute  the  public  mind  by  obscenity  and  atheism; 
or  by  injurious  and  disorganising  schemes;  the  rise 
of  public  indignation  had  at  least  found  a  cause; 
though  the  friends  of  truth  and  righteousness  are 
not  the  men  who  employ  mobs  as  their  chosen  in- 
struments of  persuasion.  But  it  was  none  of  these. 
It  was  solely  the  advocacy  of  the  principles  of  free- 
dom and  equal  rights. 

Were  these  principles  of  recent  origin,  and  the 
opinions  of  a  sect,  it  might  have  caused  less  sur- 
prise. But  they  are  the  sacred  legacy  of  ages  : — 
the  doctrines  of  our  nation's  birth;  of  natural  jus- 
tice; and  of  God. 

All  these  things  are  astonishing :  but  there  is  one 
fact  that  may  justly  excite  amazement  still  more 
deep  and  overwhelming  ;  the  opinions  and  feelings 
elicited  by  events  like  these.  Had  an  earthquake 
of  indignation  convulsed  the  land;  had  the  united 
voices  of  every  individual  of  every  party  rebuked 
and  remedied  the  wrong;  all  had  been  well.  But 
during  the  progress  of  the  scenes  there  have  been 
found  those  in  reputation  as  wise  and  good,  who 
have  been  unsparing  in  their  censure  on  the  sufferers; 
and  stimulated  the  evil  doers  by  sympathy  or  feeble 
rebuke.  And  after  the  final  and  dreadful  catastro- 
phe, only  a  faint  tribute  has  been  given  by  them 
to  certain  abstract  principles  of  free  inquiry  as  gen- 
erally good;  and  a  decent  regret  for  their  violation 
has  been  expressed. — But  the  full  tide  of  indigna- 


ALTON   RIOTS.  7 

tion  has  been  reserved  for  the  audacious  man,  who 
dared  to  speak  and  act  as  a  freeman  ;  and  though 
lawlessly  inflicted,  his  penalty  has  been  declared  to 
be  deserved. 

What  are  we  to  say  of  facts  like  these  ?  They 
at  least  open  a  deep  chapter  in  human  nature,  and 
in  the  condition  of  our  country.  They  are  the  re- 
sult of  principles  neither  superficial  nor  accidental. 
They  penetrate  to  the  very  vitals  of  society;  and 
indicate  a  crisis  in  our  national  life. 

That  as  a  nation  we  are  radically  unsound  and 
lost,  they  do  not  to  my  mind  indicate.  But  that 
there  are  in  the  body  politic  causes  of  tremendous 
power,  tending  to  that  result,  they  do  evince.  And 
the  question  on  which  all  turns,  is  now  before  us  as 
a  nation;  and  on  its  decision,  our  life  or  death  de- 
pends. Have  we  coolness  of  thought  left  sufficient 
to  discern  them,  and  energy  of  moral  feeling  enough 
to  react  ? 

As  these  events  are  of  a  nature  to  rouse  and  de- 
mand public  attention,  I  hope  that  an  impartial  nar- 
ration of  them  will  be  candidly  and  thoughtfully 
read  :  and  as  I  have  been  an  actor  in  the  leading 
events  from  the  beginning — an  eye  witness  of  most 
that  I  describe;  I  feel  that  no  one  who  speaks  only 
from  hearsay,  can  have  so  full  a  knowledge  of  all 
the  causes  of  these  events  as  I;  and  as  perhaps  no 
one  has  been  more  severely  censured  by  enemies, 
or  regarded  in  greater  error  by  some  sincere  and 
valued  friends;  I  feel  that  not  only  a  regard  to  truth 
and  the  general  good,  but  decent  regard  to  the  opin- 
ions of  others,  requires  me  to  speak. 


8  ALTON    RIOTS. 

It  is  an  event  which  will  be  known  extensively, 
and  on  which  a  judgment  will  be  formed  by  the  ci- 
vilized world.  And  in  the  correctness  of  that  judg- 
ment the  highest  interests  of  humanity  are  involv- 
ed. In  it,  too,  the  welfare  of  this  state  and  nation 
are  vitally  involved.  In  one  portion  of  the  body 
politic  soundness  is  gone,  the  laws  have  given 
way,  the  tremendous  reign  of  anarchy  has  begun, 
and  our  only  hope  for  their  final  restoration  to  their 
wonted  majesty  and  power  is  in  the  restorative 
energies  of  that  portion  of  the  body  politic  which 
remains  yet  uncorrupted. 

The  question  may  be  considered  in  two  lights  : 

1.  As  one  of  civil  rights. 

2.  As  one  of  moral  rights. 

The  first  relates  to  what  the  laws  of  the  land  al- 
low each  citizen  to  do ;  and  in  doing  which  they 
guaranty  him  defense.  The  other  relates  to  those 
duties  the  performance  of  which  no  human  laws 
can  enforce  ;  but  which  arise  from  the  obligations 
resting  on  every  man  to  use  his  civil  rights  wisely 
and  benevolently,  from  a  regard  to  God  and  the 
general  good.  So  far  as  a  claim  to  civil  defense  is 
concerned,  nothing  is  essential  except  that  a  man 
violate  no  civil  right :  and  in  deciding  whether  it  is 
a  duty  to  give  such  defense  no  community  has  a 
right  to  agitate  any  other  question. 

If  a  man's  civil  rights  are  safe  only  so  long  as  he 
uses  them  wisely  and  prudently,  we  ought  so  to  be 
informed  in  our  constitutions  :  and,  still  more,  we 


ALTON    RIOTS.  9 

ought  to  have  a  civil  standard  of  wisdom  and  pru- 
dence, enacted  by  law  ;  and  courts  and  judges  to 
try  men  for  imprudence  and  indiscretion.  For  if 
men  are  to  maintain  their  rights  only  on  such 
grounds,  and  there  is  to  be  no  standard  but 
the  opinions  of  a  mob,  may  God  in  his  mercy 
evermore  deliver  me  and  my  children  from  such 
rights  and  such  freedom. 

There  is  no  tyranny  on  earth  so  execrable  as  the 
tyranny  of  a  mob.  But  indeed  the  whole  idea  is 
ridiculous  in  the  extreme — that  the  question  of  wis- 
dom or  prudence  is  to  be  raised  at  all,  before  a 
prompt  defense  of  rights.  It  is  foreign  to  the  whole 
genius  of  our  nation.  As  long  as  a  citizen  violates  no 
law,  and  stands  solely  on  the  ground  of  civil  rights, 
he  is  to  be  defended  to  the  uttermost.  Nor  does 
crime  vacate  rights.  Even  the  vilest  criminal  has 
a  right  to  a  fair  and  impartial  trial ;  and  if  con- 
demned, it  must  be  only  by  law. 

It  was  because  I  wished  to  judge  of  the  sound- 
ness of  the  nation  on  this  point,  that  I  have  as  yet 
made  no  effort  to  correct  the  false  views  so  indus- 
triously circulated  by  those  who  wish  to  palliate 
the  atrocity  of  these  deeds.  These  all  tend  solely 
to  one  point :  that  Mr.  Lovejoy  and  his  friends 
were  not  wise  and  prudent ;  and  that  on  them  the 
whole  responsibility  rests.  And  I  was  anxious  to 
see  if  the  manly  sense  of  the  nation  was  still  so 
unclouded  as  to  detect  the  base  subterfuge  ;  and 
their  moral  sense  sufficiently  sound  to  abhor  it.  To 
a  very  cheering  extent  I  have  not  been  disappoin- 
ted on  this  point.  The  majority  of  the  nation  still 


10  ALTON    RIOTS. 

seems  to  be  sound  j  and  with  manly  indignation 
has  repelled  the  loathsome  and  guilty  excuse.  Still 
this  is  not  true  of  all. 

There  are  still  those  who,  if  their  principles  were 
to  prevail,  and  their  feelings  infect  the  nation,  would 
soon  plunge  us  in  an  ocean  of  anarchy  and  blood. 
And  as  a  citizen  of  the  free  states  I  blush  that  they 
have  furnished  the  greatest  share  of  such.  Alas, 
that  freemen  will  sell  their  principles  for  popular 
favor,  or  for  gold.  But  it  is  time,  now,  that  the 
events  of  Alton,  should  be  tried  by  another  stand- 
ard ;  that,  on  the  part  of  the  friends  of  good  order 
there  may  be  no  needless  concessions  or  reserve  ; 
and  that  the  last  pretexts  of  enemies  may  be  taken 
away. 

By  the  standard  of  wisdom,  benevolence  and 
prudence,  then,  let  these  events  be  tried  ;  and  I  care 
not  how  high  that  standard  may  be.  Not  that  I 
arrogate  to  Mr.  Lovejoy,  or  to  his  friends,  entire  ex- 
ception from  error  in  scenes  so  trying.  But  I  do 
mean  that  a  correct  standard  of  judgment  on  those 
points  is  one  of  the  last  things  which  they  have  to 
fear.  Indeed,  had  not  the  standard  of  the  com- 
munity been  unusually  low,  such  events  could  not 
have  transpired  :  and  it  was  following  a  better 
standard  that  excited  their  wrath.  On  nrmy  minds, 
I  know  that  the  impression  is  deep  and  strong  that 
we  were  urged  on  by  a  blind  impulse,  next  to  infatu- 
ation, heated  by  excitement,  and  without  deliberate 
thought.  Indeed  to  many,  any  action  on  the  sub- 
ject of  slavery  that  is  designed  to  remove  it,  is 
synonymous  with  infatuation  and  insanity.  Let  all 


ALTON  RIOTS.  11 

such  know,  that  every  step  taken  was  the  result  of 
long  and  patient  thought ;  and  of  principles  fixed 
in  our  coolest  hours. 

To  evince  that  such  was  the  fact ;  and  to  enable 
the  public  to  know  what  our  principles  are,  and  to 
judge  of  our  actions  by  them  ;  I  propose  to  con- 
sider what  are  the  principles  of  wisdom,  prudence 
and  benevolence  in  such  a  case  : — to  narrate  the 
events  as  they  transpired : — and  to  try  our  actions, 
and  those  of  our  opposers,  by  this  test. 


CPIAPTER  II. 

What  then  are  the  true  principles  in  this  case  t 
As  this  is  a  practical  question,  involving  great  and 
all  pervading  consequences,  it  is  of  great  moment 
that  our  principles  of  judgment  be  sound  ;  as  an 
error  here  must  vitiate  all  our  results.  Happily  for 
us,  we  have  an  unerring  standard  near  at  hand ; 
and  with  this  let  us  begin.  "  The  fear  of  the  Lord 
is  the  beginning  of  wisdom,  and  to  depart  from  evil 
that  is  understanding."  From  this  we  infer 

1.  That  we  are  first  of  all  to  use  all  possible 
means  to  ascertain  the  purposes  of  God,  as  regards 
the  age  and  nation  in  which  we  live  ;  and  so  lay 
our  plans  that  they  may  coincide  with  his  designs  : 
"  For  there  is  no  eounsel  or  knowledge  or  device 
against  the  Lord.  His  counsel  will  stand  and  he 


12  ALTON   RIOTS. 

will  do  all  his  pleasure."  And  if  we  «  regard  not 
the  works  of  the  Lord,  nor  the  operation  of  his 
hands,  he  will  destroy  us  and  not  build  us  up." 

2.  Never  hope  finally  to  avert  a  discussion  of 
the  great  fundamental  principles  of  human  society, 
which  is  called  for  by  the  course  of  God's  provi- 
dence and  the  movements  of  the  age. 

3.  Let  the  movements  of  God*s  providence  de- 
cide as  to  the  time  of  the  discussion.     That  is,  Do 
not  seek  prematurely  to  accelerate  it ;  and  do  not 
try  to  avert  it  when  great  events  urge  it  upon  us. 

4.  Employ  the  time  allowed  by  Providence  in 
studying  the  subject,  and  the  structure  of  human 
society  ;  thus  preparing  wisely  to  meet  the  discus- 
sion when  it  comes. 

5.  Let  no  errors  or  imprudencies,  real  or  sup- 
posed,   of  the  advocates  of  truth,  indispose  the 
mind  to  receive  it  on  its  own  evidence  :  and  let  no 
amount  of  popular  prejudice,  and  no  fear  of  person- 
al sacrifice  deter  us  from  following  out  our  own 
convictions  of  duty,  in  the  fear  of  God. 

The  soundness  of  the  principles  thus  stated  none 
can  deny.  Nor  can  it  be  denied  that,  in  a  world 
opposed  to  God  these  ought  at  all  times,  and  popu- 
lar opinion  never,  to  be  our  standard  of  wisdom  in 
the  formation  of  our  plans.  As  it  regards  their  ex- 
ecution we  are  bound  to  regard  the  laws  of  holiness 
and  of  the  human  mind.  Hence, 

6.  Let  all  discussions  of  truth  be  conducted  under 
a  vivid  sense  of  the  presence  of  God  :  and  so  con- 
ducted as  to  time,  manner  and  proportion,  that  they 
may  tend  to  diffuse  a  spirit  of  holiness  throughout 


ALTON    RIOTS.  13 

the  community  ;  and  decidedly  and  boldly  to  rebiiko 
every  form  of  sin. 

7.  Avoid  giving  needless  occasions  of  irritation, 
excitement,  and  lawless  violence. 

8.  Aim  to  diifuse  kind  feelings  throughout  the 
community  ;  and  especially  to  strengthen  the  bonds 
of  union  among  good  men. 

9.  If,  however,  after  all  your  efforts  to  promote 
holiness  and  union,  any  portion  of  community  will 
cleave  to  error  and  sin,  you  are  bound  not  to  re- 
nounce truth,  duty  and  God,  to  prevent  division 
however  painful,  or  evil  feelings  however  great,  or 
deeds  of  violence  however  atrocious.   On  them  rests 
the  responsibility  who  forsake  God  and  the  truth, 
and  not  on  you.     For  this  reason  were  Jesus  and 
his  disciples  guiltless,  though  divisions  and  death 
followed  in  their  train.     Indeed,  in  a  corrupt  state 
of  society,  eminent  holiness  and  nearness  to  God  are 
so  far  from  rendering  divisions   and  excitements 
improbable,  that  unless  the  community  itself  will 
reform,  they  render  them  certain. 

In  deciding,  therefore,  on  the  wisdom  of  any 
course  of  conduct,  we  are  to  view  it  in  all  its  rela- 
tions ;  and  not  test  it  by  a  few  hackneyed  topics 
of  popular  prudence.  A  community  deeply  in- 
volved in  the  commission  of  evil  loves  neither  dis- 
turbance, repentance,  nor  rebuke.  Their  language 
is,  Let  us  alone.  And  any  exhibition  of  the  truth, 
however  well  meant,  which  reaches  the  conscience 
will  cause  bitterness  and  reaction.  The  truth  on 
this  point  has  been  so  admirably  and  pointedly  ex- 
pressed by  the  departed  Evarts,  that  I  cannot  for- 
13 


14  ALTON   RIOTS. 

bear  to  quote  his  words.  In  the  Panoplist,  vol.  16, 
p.  245,  after  a  candid  examination  of  the  laws  of 
Virginia,  prohibiting  the  instruction  of  the  blacks, 
he  thus  concludes  : 

"  It  is  impossible  for  an  enlightened  conscience 
to  doubt  that  the  slaveholders  of  Virginia,  taken  as 
a  body,  are  <  fighting  against  God.'  There  are,  we 
trust,  numerous  exceptions  to  this  daring  hostility. 
It  cannot  be  doubted,  however,  what  will  be  the 
issue  of  the  contest.  The  many  millions  of  the 
blacks  hereafter  to  live  on  our  continent  will  not  be 
always  debarred  from  reading  the  bible,  nor  will 
Africans  be  always  forbidden  to  preach  the  gospel." 

Noble  rebuke !  and  yet  uttered  in  the  spirit  of 
love  and  godly  fear.  And  what  was  the  result  ? 
On  p.  488,  we  find  that  it  had  caused  a  great  fer- 
ment at  the  south,  and  brought  on  him  severe  cen- 
sure. Hear  him  now  in  reply. 

«  With  respect  to  the  ferment  which  the  article  in 
our  June  number  produced,  we  can  only  say,  that 
to  excite  passion  or  provoke  opposition  was  far 
from  our  object.  But  our  southern  friends  must  be 
aware  that  the  simple  fact  of  the  existence  of  irrita- 
tion is  by  no  means  conclusive  evidence  that  there 
is  just  occasion  for  it.  We  could  easily  illustrate 
this  position  by  a  reference  to  scriptural  history.  It 
is  indeed  an  indisputable  truth,  that  no  great  abuse 
can  be  removed  without  producing  a  great  deal  of 
irritation.  Look  at  the  monstrous  abuses  practised 
by  the  Romish  church  ;  and  at  the  exposure  of 
them  in  England,  Germany,  and  Scotland.  These 
abuses  were  acknowledged  by  the  advocates  of  that 


ALTON   RIOTS.  15 

church,  and  it  was  only  contended  that  they  should 
be  attacked  mildly  and  gently,  that  they  might  be 
gradually  and  silently  corrected.  But  if  the  reform- 
ers had  yielded  to  these  representations  ;  if  Luther 
had  written  against  popery  in  such  a  manner  as  not 
to  offend  the  most  bigoted  and  interested  of  the  po . 
pish  clergy,  what  would  have  become  of  the  refor- 
mation ? 

"The  southern  people  are  now  unanimous  in  con- 
demning the  slave  trade  ;  but  when  this  trade  was 
first  attacked,  the  intrepid  assailants  were  vilified 
as  a  set  of  miserable  drivellers,  who  under  the  cant 
of  religion  and  humanity,  were  willing  to  put  dag- 
gers into  the  hands  of  all  the  negroes  in  the  West 
Indies  :  who,  instead  of  benefiting  the  blacks  either 
in  Africa  or  the  islands,  would  injure  them  all: 
who  would  in  fact  produce  by  their  measures,  if 
Parliament  should  adopt  them,  nothing  but  revolt, 
insurrection,  burning  and  massacre  in  all  the  colo- 
nies. Never  was  there  more  irritation  on  any  sub- 
ject, than  prevailed  in  respect  to  the  abolition  of  the 
slave  trade  among  all  slave  holders  in  the  British 
empire." 

That  there  has  been  a  great  ferment  and  much 
irritation  in  consequence  of  the  discussion  of  slavery 
in  this  state  ;  and  that  it  has  resulted  in  outrages 
of  unparalleled  atrocity,  no  one  needs  to  be  inform- 
ed. But  it  by  no  means  follows  that  it  was  through 
the  negligence  or  indiscretion  of  the  friends  of  the 
truth  ;  or  that  all  possible  efforts  were  not  made 
which  a  sense  of  duty  would  allow,  to  conciliate 


. 


1G  ALTON    RIOTS. 

opponents  and  prevent  such  results.  Let  the  facts 
of  the  case  then  be  calmly  considered,  and  tested  by 
the  principles  already  laid  down. 

And  that  the  scope  and  reasons  of  my  remarks 
may  be  the  more  clearly  appreciated,  I  would  ob- 
serve that  I  shall  construct  my  narration  with  ref- 
erence to  a  great  variety  of  charges  against  the 
members  of  the  convention  at  Alton  as  a  body,  and 
myself  and  Mr.  Lovejoy  in  particular.  The  fact 
that  I  have  been  publicly,  severely,  and  pointedly  at- 
tacked ;  accused  of  Jesuitism,  fanatical  zeal,  derelic- 
tion of  official  duty,  and  treasonable  designs,  must  be 
be  my  apology  for  any  reference  to  myself  which  a 
vindication  of  my  course  shall  render  it  necessary 
to  make.  I  shall  make  no  reference  to  individual 
assailants  j.  and  still  entertain  the  kindest  feelings 
for  all  by  whom  I  have  been  thus  charged  ;  and 
hope  that  they  will  at  length  see  and  candidly  ac 
knowledge  their  error. 


CHAPTER  III. 

The  first  point  that  merits  our  attention  is,  the 
origin  of  the  discussion  on  the  subject  of  slavery  in 
this  state.  This  is  not  to  be  ascribed  to  any  indi- 
vidual effort,  but  to  the  gradual  movements  of  the 
providence  of  God  in  the  present  age.  The  causes 
which  have  conspired  to  make  this  a  topic  of  in- 
tense interest  to  the  Christian  world  are,  the  aboli- 


ALTON    RIOTS.  17 

tion  of  the  slave  trade  throughout  the  civilized 
world ;  and  of  slavery  in  Hayti,  the  West  Indies; 
South  America,  Mexico,  and  elsewhere,  and  the 
discussions  connected  with  these  events  ;  the  free 
principles  of  our  own  constitutions  ;  their  influence 
on  the  world  ;  and  the  reaction  of  that  influence  on 
us.  These  causes  gave  rise  to  an  animated  discus- 
sion of  the  subject  in  the  eastern  free  states,  and  to 
a  great  reaction  and  excitement  at  the  south ;  and 
thus  attention  was  aroused  to  the  subject  through- 
out the  Union.  In  this  state  there  was  an  original 
leaven  of  anti-slavery  principles  in  its  earliest  set- 
tlement, and  preceding  the  discussions  at  the  east : 
and  the  influence  of  this  added  to  that  of  papers 
from  the  east,  awakened  an  extensive  interest  in 
the  subject  over  the  whole  state.  The  result  of 
these  causes  a  wise  man  could  easily  foresee,  but 
not  avert.  The  great  current  of  human  destiny 
bore  this  subject  onward  as  one  of  the  great  practi- 
cal questions  of  the  age.  On  it  the  intellect  of  the 
civilized  world  was  aroused;  and  to  it  the  Spirit  of 
God  gave  a  resistless  course.  To  suppress  discus- 
sion was  impossible.  As  well  might  you  forbid  the 
day-spring  from  on  high  to  know  his  place,  or  the 
splendors  of  the  approaching  sun  to  dissipate  the 
shades  of  night.  To  prevent  discussion  I  made  no 
effort,  satisfied  that  it  would  be  vain;  and  that,  if 
possible,  it  was  not  to  be  desired.  On  this  subject 
as  a  nation  we  must  act  or  suffer.  If  in  season  we 
learn  and  do  our  duty,  we  shall  escape  the  judg- 
ments of  God.  If  not,  the  hour  of  retribution  is 
hastening  on. 

B  2 


18  ALTON    RIOTS. 

Free  social  discussion,  and  an  expression  of  opin- 
ion in  ecclesiastical  bodies,  were  for  a  time  deemed 
sufficient.  But  the  tide  of  feeling  continued  so  to 
rise,  that  some  more  effectual  mode  of  influencing 
the  public  mind  was  demanded.  The  establish- 
ment of  the  St.  Louis  Observer,  under  the  editorial 
care  of  Mr.  Lovejoy,  in  part  met  this  demand.  I 
say,  in  part,  for  though  he  manifested  decided  op- 
position to  slavery,  yet  his  views  were  considered 
erroneous  on  the  subject  of  immediate  emancipa- 
tion. It  here  deserves  notice  that,  although  decid- 
edly opposed  to  the  peculiar  views  of  the  abolition- 
ists, yet  he  was  driven  from  St.  Louis  by  a  mob, 
because  he  insisted  on  the  duty  of  making  efforts 
gradually  to  abolish  the  system  of  slavery.  It  was 
strenuously  insisted  on,  that  he  should  let  the  sub- 
ject entirely  alone.  He  then  removed  his  paper  to 
Alton.  His  press  on  landing  was  left  on  the  wharf, 
it  being  Sunday,  and  was  afterwards  destroyed  by 
a  few  individuals.  This  outrage  was  strongly  rep- 
robated in  a  subsequent  meeting  of  citizens;  and 
resolutions  passed  to  sustain  the  laws,  ferret  out  the 
offenders,  and  reimburse  his  loss. 

When  the  paper  was  re-established  in  this  state, 
it  was  not  his  design  to  give  so  much  room  to  the 
subject  of  slavery  as  he  had  in  Missouri;  and  he  so 
stated  in  the  meeting.  At  the  same  time  he  ex- 
pressly refused  to  give  any  pledge  on  the  subject, 
but  openly  stated  that  he  reserved  to  himself  the 
right  to  publish  whatever  he  might  choose,  on  any 
change  of  views.  Such  a  change  gradually  took 
place,  the  causes  of  which  were  th^so ;  as  stated  to 


ALTON  RIOTS.  19 

me  by  himself: — A  careful  investigation  of  the 
subject  from  a  deep  sense  of  his  own  responsibility; 
a  discovery  of  the  atrocious  misrepresentations  of 
the  views  of  the  abolitionists  which  were  universal- 
ly and  diligently  circulated,  and  to  which  he  had 
once  given  credence;  a  clear  conviction  of  the  un 
worthy  and  sordid  motives  of  the  most  violent  op- 
posers;  a  discovery  that  the  party  of  moderate  men 
had  no  plan  for  doing  any  thing,  and  that  they  did 
nothing  but  hinder  all  who  desired  to  act;  and  a 
distinct  perception  of  its  fatal  influence  on  the 
church,  especially  as  illustrated  in  the  proceedings 
of  recent  General  Assemblies.  This  change  in  his 
own  feelings  led  him  to  fee.1  the  importance  of  giv- 
ing more  prominence  to  the  subject  in  his  paper, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  demand  for  a  thorough 
discussion  of  it  became  more  urgent  among  a  large 
portion  of  his  subscribers. 

It  has  sometimes  been  said,  but  very  gratuitous- 
ly, that  he  was  the  means  of  getting  up  the  excite- 
ment in  this  state.  The  truth  is,  if  he  had  opposed 
it  with  all  his  power  he  could  not  have  stopped  the 
movement;  but  it  would  have  swept  him  and  his 
paper  away.  Of  his  change  of  views  he  deemed 
it  his  duty  to  make  a  statement  to  Mr.  W.  S.  Oil- 
man, who  had  with  his  partner,  given  him  efficient 
assistance  in  re-establishing  his  paper  after  the  press 
had  been  destroyed.  He  felt  under  no  obligation,  he 
informed  me,  to  the  citizens  at  large,  because  they 
had  not  fulfilled  the  pledge  which  they  had  given 
him  of  reimbursing  him  for  the  loss  of  his  property, 
and  had  given  him  no  aid  in  re-establishing  his 


20  ALTON    RIOTS. 

paper;  and  because  he  had  publicly  refused  to  come 
under  any  pledge  to  them.  He  was  advised  by  Mr. 
Gilman  to  follow  the  dictates  of  his  own  judgment, 
which  he  accordingly  did. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

WE  now  approach  a  point  of  great  importance 
in  its  relations  to  the  final  result; — the  proposal  to 
call  a  convention  to  form  a  state  Antislavery  Socie- 
ty. Of  this  measure,  too,  Mr.  Lovejoy  is  regarded 
as  the  author  and  prime  mover:  and  he  is  supposed 
to  have  urged  it  on  without  consideration  and  with- 
out judgment.  The  truth  is,  it  was  urged  on  his 
attention  by  others,  in  different  parts  of  the  state; 
and  was  by  him  from  time  to  time  delayed.  At 
last,  on  being  again  requested  to  bring  up  the  sub- 
ject, he  concluded  to  mention  it  in  his  paper,  and 
ask  for  an  expression  of  public  sentiment.  The 
response  was  decided;  and  it  became  clear  that 
there  was  a  general  and  strong  desire  that  a  con- 
vention should  be  held.  This  state  of  feeling  is  in 
part  to  be  ascribed  to  the  natural  progress  of  inte- 
rest and  thought;  in  part  to  the  impression  produced 
on  many  by  the  violent  proceedings  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  1837,  and 
the  belief  that  such  unjust  measures  had  been  intro- 
duced into  the  church  to  defend  slavery;  and  in  part 
to  the  agitation  of  the  Texas  question.  The  pro- 


ALTON    RIOTS.  21 

posal  of  such  a  convention  at  once  aroused  the  hos- 
tility of  the  enemies  of  his  sentiments,  and  laid  a 
foundation  for  all  the  disastrous  results  which  have 
followed.  A  meeting  of  citizens  was  soon  called 
at  the  market-house,  in  which  resolutions  were 
passed  charging  on  Mr.  Lovejoy  the  violation  of  a 
pledge,  and  censuring  him  for  his  course.  A  com- 
mittee was  also  appointed  to  wait  on  him,  with  an 
implied  assumption,  that  the  meeting  claimed  the 
power  to  regulate  his  course  as  editor.  This  claim 
he  felt  it  his  duty  to  deny  and  resist ;  while  at  the 
same  time,  to  remove  all  reasonable  grounds  of 
objection,  he  published  a  clear,  candid,  and  unan- 
swerable statement  of  his  views.  To  expose  the 
unsoundness  of  his  principles  no  attempt  was  made; 
and  that,  for  the  best  of  all  possible  reasons — a  des- 
pair of  success.  A  most  disgraceful  and  incendiary 
paragraph  also  appeared  in  a  paper  in  St.  Louis, 
urging  the  inhabitants  of  Alton  to  eject  Mr.  Love- 
joy  from  among  them  as  a  fomenter  of  divisions 
and  an  enemy  to  the  public  good.  Having  failed 
to  intimidate,  and  having  no  resource  in  argument, 
they  began  to  mature  their  plans  for  the  application 
of  force. 

At  this  time  I  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Lovejoy, 
urging  on  me  the  importance  of  giving  a  prayerful 
attention  to  the  subject ;  and  of  aiding  to  give  a 
right  direction  to  public  feeling  in  this  state;  and 
requesting  me,  if  consistent  with  my  sense  of  duty, 
to  give  my  name  to  the  call  for  a  convention.  I  had 
up  to  this  time  not  participated  at  all  in  the  public 
discussion  which  was  so  deeply  exciting  the  nation, 


22  ALTON   RIOTS. 

but  had  been  merely  an  attentive  and  thoughtful 
spectator.  Such  was  the  magnitude  of  the  subject, 
and  such  the  consequences  involved  in  its  proper 
management,  that,  until  the  providence  of  God 
should  make  it  my  duty  I  was  glad  to  retire  from 
the  conflict,  and  spend  my  time  in  preparing  for  the 
hour,  should  it  ever  arrive,  in  which  duty  would 
allow  me  to  be  silent  no  longer.  My  views,  when 
I  came  to  this  state,  were  decidedly  hostile  to  the 
doctrines  of  immediate  emancipation;  and  it  was 
not  until  the  year  1835  that  I  became  satisfied,  from 
a  careful  examination  of  the  history  of  experiments 
on  this  subject,  that  the  doctrine  of  gradual  eman- 
cipation was  fallacious,  and  that  of  immediate  eman- 
cipation was  philosophical  and  safe.  From  that  time 
I  felt  it  to  be  a  matter  of  immense  importance  that 
measures  should  be  taken,  kindly  but  thoroughly, 
to  convince  the  slave  states  of  the  fact,  and  to  urge 
the  claims  of  duty.  Still,  however,  considering  the 
magnitude  and  importance  of  the  subject;  and  the 
interest,  ignorance  and  prejudice  to  be  encountered, 
I  felt  that  more  was  to  be  hoped  from  deep  and 
thorough  discussions  in  a  cool  and  dispassionate 
style,  than  from  popular  appeals  and  excitement. 
At  the  same  time  I  was  dissatisfied  with  the  spirit 
of  much  which  had  been  written  on  the  subject; 
and  with  the  disposition  so  common,  of  pushing  true 
principles  to  an  extreme.  On  the  whole  I  decidedly 
preferred  to  stand  on  my  own  ground — to  join  no 
society — and  to  speak  as  an  individual,  if  I  spoke 
at  all.  In  reply  to  Mr.  Lovejoy,  I  stated  these 
facts;  and  added  that  I  would  join  no  society,  un- 


ALTON    RIOTS.  23 

less  they  would  assume  such  grounds  as  I  could  ap- 
prove. In  reply,  he  requested  a  full  statement  of 
all  my  views,  which  I  freely  gave  him. 

Meanwhile  the  plans  of  the  friends  of  mob-law  had 
been  matured,  the  office  of  the  Observer  assailed,  and 
the  press  destroyed.  It  was  known  beforehand 
that  such  an  attack  was  contemplated ;  and  a  decided 
public  sentiment  in  favor  of  maintaining  the  law  at 
all  hazards  might  easily  have  prevented  it :  for  the 
perpetrators  were  then  timid  ;  habit  and  success  had 
not  given  them  confidence.  No  such  public  senti- 
ment, however,  existed ;  and  many  felt — even  of 
those  deemed  wise  and  good — that  though  the  pros- 
tration of  the  law  was  a  great  evil,  the  publication 
of  the  Observer  was  one  still  greater  :  to  such  a 
degree  had  prejudice  and  a  false  view  of  their  own 
local  interests  blinded  their  minds.  They  seemed 
to  regard  it  as  a  less  evil  to  have  their  city  be- 
come the  abode  of  mob  law  than  the  theatre  of  a 
fair  discussion  of  an  unpopular  theme.  Prepara- 
tions had  also  been  made  to  defend  the  office  by 
arms  ;  but  as  there  was  a  hesitation  in  regard  to 
the  propriety  of  using  arms  in  such  a  case,  when 
the  office  was  assailed  not  a  gun  was  fired  ;  but  it 
was  abandoned  to  its  fate. 

Decided  efforts  were  immediately  made  by  the 
friends  of  Mr.  Lovejoy  to  replace  the  press,  and  to 
enlist  the  friends  of  religion  and  good  order  in  an 
effort  to  maintain  the  ground.  But,  to  such  a  de- 
gree were  the  churches  paralyzed,  the  effort  was 
unavailing.  A  press  however  was  procured  by 
the  friends  of  the  paper  at  Alton  and  Quincy,  and 


Q4  ALTON   RIOTS. 

a  consultation  was  held  in  Alton  to  decide  what 
should  be  done.  It  was  at  this  time  that  Mr. 
Lovejoy  sent  in  a  communication  offering  to  resign 
his  place  as  editor,  if  in  their  judgment  the  in- 
terests of  the  paper  and  the  public  good  could  be 
promoted  thereby.  His  offer,  however,  was  not 
accepted,  and  the  whole  subject  was  deferred  for 
future  discussion  and  decision. 

Shortly  after  this  Mr.  Lovejoy  visited  Jackson- 
ville to  attend  the  commencement  of  Illinois  Col- 
lege ;  and  spent  a  considerable  portion  of  his  time 
in  my  family.  As  a  number  of  clergymen  and  lay- 
men from  different  parts  of  the  state  were  assem- 
bled, it  was  deemed  expedient  to  consult  on  the 
measures  best  adapted  to  the  present  crisis.  An 
unanimous  opinion  was  expressed  that,  in  order  to 
maintain  the  principles  of  free  discussion,  it  was  of 
great  importance  that  the  paper  should  be  again 
established  at  Alton,  under  Mr.  Lovejoy  as  its  edi- 
tor. I  suggested  to  Mr.  Lovejoy  the  expediency 
of  so  far  changing  the  character  of  the  convention, 
that  the  friends  of  free  discussion  who  were  not  in 
favor  of  forming  an  anti-slavery  society  could  at- 
tend ;  and  also  suggested  that  if  a  society  were 
formed  it  should  be  called  the  society  of  inquiry 
on  the  subject  of  slavery.  My  motives  were  two- 
fold. I  felt  that  it  would  be  calamitous  to  have  a  pro- 
posed meeting  of  citizens  broken  up  for  fear  of  vio- 
lence ;  and  at  the  same  time  I  wished  to  remove 
all  real  or  unreal  causes  of  irritation.  I  thought 
also,  that  an  invitation  to  the  friends  of  free  inqui- 
ry to  attend  a  perfectly  uncommitted  meeting,  would 


ALTON  RIOTS.  25 

tend  to  produce  an  influence  which  should  restore 
the  supremacy  of  law  in  Alton,  deliver  the  state 
from  its  present  disgrace,  and  remove  the  influence 
of  so  pestilential  an  example  in  the  commercial 
capital  of  this  portion  of  the  state.  Though  op- 
posed to  his  own  feelings,  he  yielded  to  my  wishes 
except  as  it  regarded  the  name  ;  and  this  plan  was 
also  approved  by  the  meeting. 

On  these  grounds,  and  intent  solely  on  the  effort 
to  prevent  further  violence  and  to  restore  the  lost 
character  of  so  important  a  place  I  allowed  my 
name  to  be  used  in  calling  the  convention.  The 
call  was  accordingly  issued  inviting  the  friends  of 
free  inquiry  to  meet  and  consult  what  course  it  was 
best  to  take  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  and  stating, 
that  by  coming  together  they  did  not  commit  them- 
selves to  any  course  of  measures.  Fearing  however 
the  intrusion  of  the  enemies  of  free  discussion  to  de- 
feat the  meeting,  he  limited  the  call  to  such  as  be- 
lieve the  system  of  American  slavery  to  be  sinful, 
and  that  it  ought  immediately  to  be  abandoned. 

Before  the  issuing  of  the  call  another  press  had 
been  landed  and  destroyed.  Without  deciding 
where  to  establish  it,  Mr.  Lovejoy  sent  on  immedi- 
ately for  another  :  though  it  was  at  this  time  his 
prevailing  opinion  that  it  was  advisable  to  locate  it 
elsewhere. 

On  seeing  the  call  I  was  disappointed  at  finding 
it  limited  in  such  a  manner,  as  it  was  inconsistent 
with  my  design  of  inducing  those  who  were  deemed 
judicious  and  moderate  men,  and  who  did  not  wish 
to  be  set  down  as  partisans,  from  attending.  I  ac- 
C 


26  ALTON    RIOTS. 

cordingly  went  to  Alton  and  stated  to  him  my 
views.  He  gave  me  his  reason  for  the  limitation 
and  seemed  fully  convinced  of  its  necessity.  How 
correct  was  his  judgment  subsequent  events  will 
show.  I,  however,  did  not  think  that  men  who  had 
already  destroyed  two  .presses  would  dare  to  claim 
a  seat  among  the  friends  of  free  inquiry,  and  was 
anxious  that  the  invitation  should  be  enlarged.  I 
also  proposed  the  plan  of  not  forming  an  organiza- 
tion at  all;  but  of  appointing  committees  of  inquiry, 
and  assigning  to  them  subjects  to  investigate  and 
report  at  a  future  meeting.  I  also  urged  the 
plan  of  calling  the  organization,  if  it  should  be  form- 
ed, the  society  of  inquiry.  To  all  this,  after  consul- 
ting with  his  friends,  he  finally  assented,  solely  for 
the  sake  of  preventing  division,  by  laying  a  ground 
of  union  so  broad  that  all  good  men  might  act  to- 
gether. I  then  requested  that  a  meeting  for  consul- 
tation, composed  of  some  of  the  leading  citizens  of 
Alton,  of  various  denominations  might  be  called,  to 
whom  I  stated  these  plans  for  their  advice.  I  en- 
deavored to  lay  open  to  them  the  evils  of  division 
among  good  men,  and  how  such  division  leads  to 
acts  of  popular  violence.  One  portion  of  good  men 
feeling  it  to  be  their  duty  to  urge  on  an  unpopular 
work  of  reformation  ;  another  portion,  and  that  the 
majority,  standing  aloof  and  frowning  on  them  as 
fanatical  and  imprudent,  and  thus  emboldening  the 
wicked  in  their  deeds  of  violence.  I  stated  what 
concessions  Mr.  Lovejoy  and  his  friends  were  will- 
ing to  make,  and  urged  upon  them  the  importance 
of  countenancing  the  meeting  by  their  presence,  and 


ALTON    RIOTS.  27 

of  inducing  their  friends  to  attend;  that  thus  the 
partisans  of  violence  might  be  rebuked  by  the  united 
voice  of  the  wise  and  the  good.  A  vote  was  then 
passed  approving  these  views;  and  expressing  the 
opinion  that  the  invitation  should  be  extended  to 
all  the  friends  of  free  inquiry  on  the  subject  of  sla- 
very. I  accordingly  published  in  the  Alton  Tele- 
graph .a  communication  stating  my  origin  al  views 
in  signing  the  call,  and  that  I  and  some  others  of 
the  signers,  and  a  number  of  leading  gentlemen  in 
this  place  were  desirous  of  having  the  invitation 
comprehend  all  the  friends  of  free  inquiry  on  the 
subject  of.  slavery.  I  did  not  assume  the  power  to 
control  the  wishes  of  the  majority  of  the  signers  but 
to  express  my  own:  and  did  not  doubt  that  all  can- 
did and  well  disposed  persons  would  be  readily  ad- 
mitted. I  then  endeavored  by  letters  and  person- 
al influence  to  induce  intelligent  and  influential 
men  to  attend  and  make  an  effort  to  prevent  disunion 
and  restore  the  majesty  of  violated  law.  I  also 
made  an  effort  at  the  meeting  of  the  synod  of  Il- 
linois to  obtain  a  unanimous  expression  of  opinion 
against  the  outrages  at  Alton,  and  in  favor  of  the 
right  of  free  discussion.  In  this  I  failed  ;  a  few  op- 
posing the  resolutions  as  it  seemed  to  me  on  ac- 
count of  the  state  of  parties*  in  the  church.  The 
reason  alleged  by  the  leading  speaker  was,  that  it 
tended  to  unite  church  and  state  !  How  simply 
affirming  the  principle  that  every  citizen  and  body 
of  men  had  a  right  to  be  protected  by  law  in  ex- 

*  Not  Theological  parties  solely. 


28  ALTON    RIOTS. 

pressing  their  opinions,  tended  to  unite  church  and 
state,  I  could  not  see  :  but  as  I  was  ashamed  to 
have  such  resolutions  pass  by  a  divided  vote,  with- 
drew them,  though  they  could  have  been  passed  by 
a  decided  majority.  Still,  in  a  meeting  for  con- 
sultation I  advised  all  who  could,  to  attend;  and  ex- 
pressed my  firm  belief  that  no  violence  need  be  ap- 
prehended, as  I  had  no  doubt  the  leading  citizens 
of  Alton  would  countenance  the  meeting  by  their 
presence. 


CHAPTER  V. 

With  such  cheering  expectations  I  commenced 
my  journey  to  Alton;  little  thinking  how  soon  they 
were  to  be  disappointed,  and  that  from  a  quarter  I 
had  little  anticipated.  At  Carlinville,  where  I  spent 
the  night,  I  heard  from  a  passenger  in  the  stage 
from  Alton  that  a  meeting  of  the  Colonization  So- 
ciety had  just  been  held  in  Upper  Alton;  and  on 
inquiry  as  to  the  tenor  of  the  speeches,  found  that 
many  things  had  been  said  tending  to  excite  preju- 
dice and  odium  against  the  friends  of  immediate 
emancipation.  I  at  once  anticipated  the  result  and 
felt  sad. 

On  my  arrival  at  Alton,  I  entered  the  house  in 
which  the  convention  was  assembled  and  found  a 
tumultuous  speaker  claiming  seats  for  himself  and 
friends,  as  the  patrons  of  free  inquiry  on  the  subject 


ALTON   RIOTS.  29 

of  slavery;  and  none  of  those  citizens  of  Alton  on 
whom  I  had  mainly  relied  to  aid  in  an  effort  to  unite 
good  men  and  sustain  the  majesty  of  the  law,  were 
there.  I  was  also  informed  that  some  of  the  indi- 
viduals thus  claiming  seats  had  already,  by  aiding 
or  abetting  the  destruction  of  the  press  of  the  Ob- 
server illustrated  their  views  of  free  inquiry,  and 
signalized  their  valor  in  its  defence.  At  all  events, 
many  of  their  party  gave  notable  displays  of  it  not 
long  after;  one  of  them  being  the  reputed  murder- 
er of  Mr.  Lovejoy,  and  another  having  on  the  night 
of  the  murder  presented  a  pistol  towards  Mr.  W.  S. 
Oilman  and  called  on  him  to  surrender  the  press  to 
the  mob.  However,  of  the  character  of  those  per- 
sons I  was  at  the  time  ignorant.  • 

Mr.  Lovejoy  soon  informed  me  that  they  were 
claiming  seats  on  the  ground  of  my  notice  in  the 
Alton  Telegraph,  and  that  he  had  objected  to  their 
admission  on  the  ground  that  they  had  come  in  to 
interrupt  the  meeting  and  thwart  its  designs,  and 
not  to  maintain  the  cause  of  free  inquiry.  At  this 
they  were  highly  indignant  as  men  of  high  honor, 
and  conscious  of  the  integrity  of  their  purpose. 

I  immediately  disclaimed  all  right  to  overrule  the 
will  of  the  majority  of  the  signers,  by  my  invita- 
tion ;  and  stated  that  there  was  no  regular  way  of 
organizing  the  convention  but  by  first  .enrolling 
those  who  could  respond  to  the  original  call  ;  and 
that  they  could  then  admit  whomsoever  they  pleas- 
ed as  the  friends  of  free  inquiry. 

On  this  they  immediately  put  in  requisition  their 
powers  of  interpretation  to  see  if  they  could  not 


30  ALTON   RIOTS. 

respond  to  the  call.  It  became  a  matter  of  much 
moment  to  know  what  the  immediate  abolition 
of  slavery  implied.  Dr.  Blackburn  who  was  in 
the  chair,  gave  a  statement  of  his  views  and  I 
of  mine.  One  of  the  leaders  of  the  "  friends  "of 
free  inquiry,"  professed  his  full  assent  to  these 
views,  and  so  did  some  others.  Another,  however, 
by  his  critical  skill,  discovered  that  he  was  invited 
in  the  call,  because  the  friends  of  free  inquiry  were 
invited,  and  the  fact  that  the  invitation  was  after- 
wards limited  to  those  who  were  in  favor  of  the 
immediate  abolition  of  slavery  seemed  to  him  no 
impediment,  though  he  confessed  that  he  was  not 
of  that  class.  The  "friends  of  free  inquiry" 
being  thus  divided  in  the  grounds  which  they 
should  assume,  it  was  voted  to  adjourn  till  the  next 
day. 

After  the  close  of  the  meeting  a  leader  of  the 
te  friends  of  free  inquiry"  went  out  and  mounted 
the  wood  pile  near  the  corner  of  the  house  and 
delivered  an  address  to  his  followers.  He  inveigh- 
ed bitterly  against  the  abolitionists  for  denying  to 
them  the  rights  of  free  inquiry,  and  brought  up 
various  topics  of  an  inflammatory  kind  which  pro- 
fligate editors  had  proclaimed  abroad  against  the 
abolitionists.  Their  hearts,  if  they  had  any,  were 
cold,  and  they  were  bound  to  their  country  by  no 
common  ties.  He  also  commenced  a  tirade  against 
the  benevolent  operations  of  the  day,  including 
the  temperance  society,  till  luckily  it  occurred  to 
him  that  he  had  recently  joined  it  himself,  and  had 
made  a  public  address  in  its  behalf :  he  then  re- 


ALTON    RIOTS.  31 

tracted  his  charges  to  the  no  small  amusement  of 
his  audience.  He  then  charged  them  not  to  fear 
the  abolitionists  ;  and  to  be  on  the  spot  by  nine 
o'clock  the  next  morning,  and  to  bring  their  friends 
with  them.  Meanwhile  those  who  had  come  from 
abroad  to  attend  the  convention  concluded,  in  or- 
der to  take  away  all  pretext  for  violence,  to  or- 
ganize on  the  original  call,  and  then  to  open  the 
discussion  to  all  the  friends  of  free  inquiry,  and  to 
treat  all  who  professed  to  be  such  as  sincere. 

On  the  next  morning  the  chairman  proceeded  to 
organize  the  convention  on  the  call  by  reading  it, 
and  stating  that  all  who  could  respond  to  it  would 
be  entered  as  members  of  the  convention.  By 
this  time  the  tumultuous  friends  of  free  inquiry  had 
got  rid  of  all  their  scruples  and  responded  unani- 
mously to  the  call,  on  what  grounds  they  best  can 
decide.  If  they  were  in  favor  of  the  immediate 
abolition  of  slavery,  why  make  such  a  tumult  be- 
cause Mr.  Lovejoy  taught  the  doctrine  ?  If  not, 
why,  by  responding  to  the  call,  profess  that  they 
were  ?  Such,  however,  are  the  facts  ;  and  their 
names  are  on  record  and  before  the  world  as  re- 
spondents to  the  call.  The  vote  to  admit  all  friends 
of  free  inquiry,  of  which  we  had  thought,  be- 
came useless.  The  trustees  of  the  church,  how- 
ever, sent  in  a  paper  stating  that  we  could  not 
retain  the  house  unless  the  convention  was  open- 
ed to  free  discussion  to  all  who  wished.  To  this 
we  of  course  assented.  The  convention  then  pro- 
ceeded to  the  election  of  officers.  Dr.  Blackburn 
was  the  candidate  of  the  real  members  of  the  con- 


32  ALTON   RIOTS. 

vention,  for  president,  and  Dr.  Hope  of  the  "  friends 
of  free  inquiry."  Dr.  Blackburn  was  elected  by  a 
considerable  majority.  Rev.  F.  W.  Graves  and  W. 
Carr  were  chosen  secretaries.  A  committee  to  re- 
port business  was  appointed  consisting  of  one  friend 
of  free  inquiry  and  two  of  the  regular  conven- 
tion. 

As  the  friend  of  free  inquiry  had  publicly  declar- 
ed his  accordance  with  the  sentiments  of  the  presi- 
dent and  myself,  on  the  subject  of  immediate  abol- 
ition, I  had  good  reason  to  expect  that  we  might  lay 
before  the  convention  a  declaration  of  sentiments 
to  that  amount.  I  found,  however,  that  he  was  de- 
termined to  report  a  series  of  resolutions  of  direct- 
ly the  opposite  tenor.  When  one  of  the  committee 
expressed  his  surprise  at  this,  and  reminded  him 
that  yesterday  he  professed  that  he  could  agree  to 
the  doctrine  of  immediate  emancipation  as  publicly 
stated,  he  replied,  "  If  I  could  yesterday,  I  can't  to- 
day." The  majority  then  made  a  report  involving 
the  same  principles  which  were  stated  the  day  be- 
fore, and  the  minority  a  counter  report.  The  friends 
of  free  inquiry  then  voted  to  take  up  the  minority's 
report  as  the  subject  of  discussion,  and  to  exclude 
the  other.  One  resolution  was  accordingly  discus- 
sed in  committee  of  the  whole,  the  import  of  which 
was,  that,  as  by  human  laws  slave-holders  had  a 
right  to  property  in  man,  and  as  the  constitution  of 
the  United  States  declares  that  no  man's  property 
shall  be  taken  from  him,  without  compensation, 
therefore  the  slave-holding  states  have  no  right  to 
abolish  slavery.  The  advocates  of  this  resolution 


ALTON   RIOTS.  33 

Were  answered  by  Messrs.  Beecher,  Gait  and  Per- 
kins. Their  positions  were  shown  to  be  contrary 
to  nature  and  the  immutable  distinction  between 
right  and  wrong,  against  the  law  of  God,  and  the 
opinions  and  actual  practice  of  many  of  the  states. 
It  soon  became  plain  that  it  was  easier  to  pass  votes 
by  a  majority  than  to  defend  them  by  argument; 
and  the  "friends  of  free  inquiry"  became  weary  of 
their  work.  It  was  moved  that  the  committee  rise 
and  report :  which  was  done,  and  the  resolution 
adopted.  It  was  then  moved  to  adopt  the  rest  en 
masse.  I  at  once  inquired  if  it  was  to  be  without 
discussion.  Many  voices  replied,  "  Yes,  without 
discussion."  I  repeated  the  question  with  the 
same  result.  I  then  requested  the  president  to  put 
the  motion  in  this  form,  "  Resolved  that  we  adopt 
the  remaining  resolutions  without  discussion,"  which 
he  did;  and  in  that  form  the  "friends  of  free  inqui- 
ry" passed  it;  and  then  voted  to  adjourn  sine  die. 
Thus  passed  one  day  :  and  at  its  close  I  felt  a  great 
relief. 

During  all  these  exciting  scenes  the  real  members 
of  the  convention  had  conducted  with  the  utmost 
coolness,  kindness  and  self-possession.  Some  just 
indignation  was  at  first  manifested  at  the  attempts 
of  the  "friends  of  free  inquiry"  to  intrude;  but  it 
soon  passed  away.  Nor  did  I  regret  that  I  had 
made  the  effort;  for  it  had  proved  at  least  one  thing 
to  a  demonstration: — that  neither  Mr.  Lovejoy  nor 
his  friends  were  obstinate,  self-willed  and  uncom- 
promising. What  concessions  could  be  required 
which  they  were  not  willing  to  make — except  to 


34  ALTON    RIOTS. 

give  up  finally  and  forever  all  freedom  of  speech  or 
inquiry,  and  submit  to  the  dictation  of  the  mob  ? 
To  unite  good  men  they  had  offered  to  give  up  the 
name  of  their  society;  to  put  off  its  organization; 
and  to  commit  the  whole  subject  to  committees  to 
report  hereafter.  But  all  would  not  do.  Still  they 
must  be  held  up  to  odium  in  a  meeting  of  good 
men,  designated  by  a  religious  editor  as  uneasy  and 
restless  spirits,  and  given  up  to  the  tender  mercies 
of  a  mob.  To  be  associated,  even  for  a  time,  with 
men  who  could  act  as  did  this  gang  of  friends  of 
free  inquiry,  would  have  seemed  to  me  degrading 
if  I  had  not  felt  that  my  soul  disavowed  all  fellow- 
ship with  such  proceedings.  What  then  shall  we 
say  of  those  men  who  wish  to  be  deemed  respecta- 
ble, and  of  that  professed  minister  of  Christ,  who 
acted  with  them  and  gave  them  no  rebuke  ?  What 
shall  we  say  of  religious  editors  who  record  their 
proceedings  with  manifest  pleasure,  as  an  expres- 
sion of  sentiments  honorable  to  the  citizens  of  Alton 
Of  course  the  whole  plan  of  appointing  commit- 
tees was  dropped.  Those  who  had  assembled  for 
high  and  holy  purposes  were  united  among  them- 
selves; and  the  rest  had  finished  their  discussion, 
and  dispersed.  Not  feeling  it  safe  to  hold  a  public 
meeting  on  that  evening,  for  fear  of  the  friends  of 
free  inquiry,  they  assembled  in  private  houses  for 
prayer,  and  spent  the  evening  in  asking  counsel  of 
God;  a  part  in  upper  Alton  and  a  part  in  the  city. 


ALTON  RIOTS.  35 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Two  important  questions  were  now  to  be  decid- 
ed. What  course  to  take.  First,  as  it  regards  or- 
ganizing a  state  society  ;  and,  Second,  as  it  regards 
the  re-establishment  of  the  Alton  Observer. 

On  the  first  point,  it  was  evident  that  all  offers 
of  compromise  and  co-operation  were  fruitless. 
Those  who  were  satisfied  with  the  plans  of  the 
Colonization  Society  as  the  only  effectual  means  of 
removing  slavery,  would  of  course  reject  our  views 
entirely,  and  pronounce  all  discussion  of  the  subject 
of  immediate  emancipation  useless.  And  the  pre- 
judices excited  against  us  by  religious  men  would 
of  course  have  double  weight  in  the  minds  of  the 
worldly  and  vicious  portions  of  the  community.  So 
that  our  only  alternative  was  to  organize  on  such 
principles  as  we  were  able  to  agree  in  among  our- 
selves ;  or  to  disperse.  To  take  the  latter  step  it 
seemed  to  us  would  be  giving  a  complete  triumph 
to  the  mob;  and  be  pestilent  in  its  influence,  by  in- 
viting and  emboldening  them  to  take  a  similar  course 
all  over  the  state  should  we  ever  meet  again.  It 
also  seemed  to  us  adapted  to  depress  the  spirit  and 
diminish  the  courage  of  all  the  friends  of  freedom 
throughout  the  state.  Though  the  plan  of  deferring 
an  organization  and  appointing  committees  to  re- 
port was  brought  up,  yet  it  was  almost  unanimous- 
ly rejected.  And,  as  to  the  name,  it  seemed  pretty 
clear  by  this  time,  that  the  thing  aimed  at  was  the 


36  ALTON   RIOTS. 

real  cause  of  offence,  and  that  to  change  the  name 
would  do  no  good.  It  was  therefore  deemed  best 
to  meet  the  next  day  and  organize  a  new  conven- 
tion; which  was  accordingly  done.  In  this  it  was 
unanimously  resolved,  that  it  is  expedient  at  this 
time  to  organize  the  Illinois  state  Anti-Slavery 
Society. 

It  was  proposed  that  the  convention  meet  in  the 
church,  as  before  ;  but  threats  of  popular  violence 
induced  them  to  prefer  a  private  house.  They  ac- 
cordingly met  in  the  house  of  Rev.  T.  B.  Hurlbut. 
It  having  been  noised  abroad  that  these  measures 
were  contemplated,  "  the  friends  of  free  inquiry" 
came  up  and  claimed  admission.  On  this  being  re- 
fused, their  leader  threatened  to  break  open  the 
door,  and  to  use  personal  violence  upon  Mr.  Hurl- 
but  if  he  came  out:  and  this  in  open  day.  By  this 
time,  however,  the  police  of  Upper  Alton  were 
aroused  ;  and  they  took  effectual  measures  to  clear 
their  streets  of  the  mob :  and  from  that  time  good 
order  was  preserved. 

My  preference  still  was  to  stand  on  my  own 
ground  as  an  individual,  that  I  might  be  held  res- 
ponsible for  no  sentiments,  or  measures,  but  my 
own.  I  also  knew  that  by  joining  an  unpopular 
and  despised  minority,  occasion  would  be  given 
through  me  to  assail  and  injure  the  institution  over 
which  I  preside.  As  to  mere  personal  popularity, 
it  was  a  smaller  matter,  especially  among  such 
friends  of  free  inquiry  as  I  had  lately  seen.  I  felt 
that  it  was  against  the  praise  of  such  that  our 
Savior  had  warned  his  followers  in  his  emphatic 


ALTON    RIOTS.  37 

denunciation  of  woe  on  us,  when  all  men  speak 
well  of  us.  Still,  related  as  I  was  to  a  public  liter- 
ary institution,  I  felt  that  my  conduct  involved 
more  interests  than  my  own.  One  consideration, 
however,  overruled  all  else.  I  saw  a  deliberate  ef- 
fort to  render  odious  and  crush  a  pious  and  intelli- 
gent assemblage  of  my  fellow-citizens,  who,  so  far  as 
I  could  see,  had  done  no  wrong  but  to  dare  to  think 
for  themselves  on  a  great  moral  question  ;  and  as 
freemen  to  exercise  their  inestimable  rights,  in  a 
way  expressly  provided  for  by  the  constitution: 
that  is,  in  a  peaceful  assembly  for  prayer  and  con- 
sultation. And  although  I  had  not  come  expect- 
ing to  organize  a  state  anti-slavery  society;  but  to 
take  measures  to  secure  a  kind  and  peaceful  dis- 
cussion of  the  subject  of  slavery;  yet,  as  all  these 
plans  had  been  broken  up ;  and  as  the  Colonization 
Society  had  been  introduced  as  the  means  of  doing 
it; — (for  that  it  was,  I  am  informed  was  definitely 
avowed  by  its  leading  mover;)  and  as  the  purpose 
was  avowed  of  establishing  branches  of  that 
society  throughout  the  state;  and  as  I  supposed 
they  would  all  partake  of  the  spirit  of  the  present 
movement;  I  was  compelled  to  relinquish  my  fond- 
ly cherished  hopes  of  Christian  union,  and  to  decide 
in  view  of  facts,  as  they  were.  And,  in  this  view, 
I  could  not  long  hesitate.  I  felt  it  to  be  my  impe- 
rious and  solemn  duty  to  associate  myself  with 
the  injured  and  oppressed;  and  to  exert  whatever 
of  influence  I  could  exert,  in  maintaining  their 
rights.  Had  I  done  otherwise,  I  should  in  fact, 
whatever  my  intentions  had  been,  have  been  con? 
D 


38  ALTON    RIOTS. 

sidered  by  the  patrons  of  mob  law,  as  willing  to 
abandon  the  objects  of  their  malignant  hatred  to  their 
fate.  I  therefore  felt  it  to  be  a  solemn  duty,  situat- 
ed as  I  was,  not  to  retreat  before  the  illegal  violence 
which  raged  around  me,  but  to  show  my  abhor- 
rence of  it,  at  whatever  hazard ;  and  to  lift  up 
against  it  the  voice  of  decided  rebuke. 

Still  I  felt  that  I  was  not  at  liberty  to  compro- 
mise any  principle,  or  to  countenance  any  measures 
which  I  could  not  approve.  I  therefore  stated  to 
the  brethren,  frankly,  my  views;  and  told  them  if 
we  could  agree  in  a  declaration  of  sentiments,  and 
if  they  would  consent,  at  least  for  the  present,  to 
stand  on  entirely  independent  ground,  I  would  unite 
with  them  in  the  formation  of  the  society.  At  their 
request,  I  drew  up  a  declaration  of  sentiments, 
which,  after  some  discussion  and  mutual  conces- 
sions, was  adopted;  and  the  society  was  formed. 

We  were  unanimous  in  the  opinion  that  the  sys- 
tem of  slavery  is  in  all  cases  sinful;  and  that  it  is 
safe  and  a  duty  for  the  slaveholding  states  imme- 
diately to  abolish  it;  and  to  replace  it  by  wise  and 
equitable  laws,  adapted  to  the  condition  of  the 
emancipated;  and  designed  to  prevent  among  them 
vagrancy  and  idleness,  and  at  the  same  time  to  ele- 
vate them  as  fast  as  possible,  as  free  laborers,  in  the 
scale  of  intelligence  and  religion;  and  to  secure  to 
them,  meanwhile,  all  their  inalienable  rights  as  men. 
We  were  also  unanimous  in  the  opinion,  that  it  is 
in  all  cases  a  sin  for  an  individual  to  hold  and  treat 
a  slave  as  an  article  of  property.  But  I  wished  to 
make  an  exception  in  favor  of  cases  where,  merely 


ALTON   RIOTS  39 

the  legal  relation  was  retained  from  benevolent  pur- 
poses, or  from  absolute  necessity.  But  on  reflec- 
tion I  was  satisfied  that  the  first  exception  ought  not 
to  be  made,  since  retaining  the  legal  relation  from 
motives  however  good,  involved  the  continual  sub- 
jection of  the  slave  to  the  whole  power  of  the  sys- 
tem; and  in  case  of  the  insolvency  or  death  of  the 
master,  to  irreparable  injustice  or  final  ruin:  and 
that  therefore  it  is  a  duty  not  merely  to  abstain  from 
treating  a  slave  as  property,  but  to  put  him  out  at 
once  from  under  the  power  of  the  slave  laws,  by 
emancipation;  so  that  his  inalienable  rights  may  be 
secured  to  him  by  law ;  and  not  depend  upon  the 
will  of  a  master.  I  also  saw  that  it  was  utterly  un- 
safe to  put  the  whole  power  of  judging  what  was 
for  the  slave's  good  into  the  hands  of  an  interested 
party;  especially  when  the  results  of  his  judgment 
affected  so  grave  a  question  as  the  retaining  of  a 
human  being  under  a  code  of  laws  so  horrid  as  the 
slave  laws  of  our  land.  I  also  saw  that  the  princi- 
ple was  liable  to  endless  abuse,  as  nothing  could  be 
easier  for  every  slaveholder  in  the  land,  than  to 
make  the  slave's  good  the  pretence  for  holding  him 
in  bondage,  while  the  real  motive  was  the  love  of 
gain.  We  finally  agreed  to  make  an  exception  only 
where  the  slaveholder  had  done  all  in  his  power  to 
dissolve  the  legal  relation,  and  extricate  his  slaves 
from  the  grasp  of  the  system.  If,  after  this,  the 
laws  of  the  community  will  not  recognize  them  as 
free;  and  if  the  community  will  still  treat  them  as 
under  a  legal  relation  to  him  which  they  will  not 
dissolve,  on  them  be  the  guilt.  If,  however,  by  any 


40  ALTON    RIOTS. 

efforts  or  sacrifices  he  can  so  change  his  or  their  cir- 
cumstances as  to  gain  the  power  of  making  them 
free,  it  is  his  duty  to  do  it.  In  the  discussion  be- 
tween us,  it  was  the  object  of  the  brethren  not  to 
admit  of  any  exception  which  should  weaken  the 
power  of  truth  on  the  conscience;  whilst  it  was 
mine,  so  to  guard  our  language  as  not  to  bring  a 
false  accusation  against  any  man,  and  not  to  blame 
any  one  for  not  doing  impossibilities.  In  conse- 
quence of  the  discussion,  my  own  views  were 
changed  on  one  point;  and  the  brethren  conceded 
all  which  I  desired  on  the  other. 

I  am  thus  particular  in  these  details  because  1 
wish  the  public  to  know  the  real  spirit  of  those  men 
who  have  been  so  stigmatized  as  rash,  overbearing 
and  hot-headed.  I  was  warned  again  and  again, 
that,  if  I  tried  to  co-operate  with  them,  I  should  find 
them  fierce,  fiery,  radical,  and  uncompromising.  But 
I  can  truly  say  that  I  discovered  none  of  these  traits 
in  my  intercourse  with  the  vast  majority  of  them. 
They  seemed  desirous  of  union  with  all  good  men. 
And  if  my  original  plan  for  a  free  and  Christian  dis- 
cussion could  have  been  carried  out,  if  good  men 
had  not  retired  and  left  us  to  the  mercy  of  a  mob, 
the  bloody  scenes  that  followed  had  never  transpir- 
ed. And  by  kind  and  mutual  comparison  of  views, 
attended  with  earnest  prayer,  we  should  all  of  us, 
I  trust,  have  been  guided  into  a  knowledge  of  the 
truth;  and  seen  eye  to  eye,  and  lifted  up  the  voice 
together.  And  I  cannot  but  lament  that  on  a  sub- 
ject like  this,  an  effort  made  in  kindness  and  good 


ALTON    RIOTS.  41 

faith,  to  unite  Christians  and  arrest  the  progress  of 
lawless  violence,  should  be  defeated  in  the  manner 
that  it  was. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Towards  the  colonization  society  my  feelings 
have  ever  been  kind,  though  I  never  had  the  slight- 
est faith  in  it  as  a  means  of  removing  slavery.  Nor 
have  I  ever  seen  why,  if  it  will  but  confine  its  ef- 
forts to  its  proper  sphere,  it  need  fear  the  progress 
of  the  principles  of  immediate  emancipation.  How 
could  the  liberation,  instruction  and  conversion  of 
all  the  blacks  in  this  country  impede  the  establish- 
ment of  such  colonies  in  Africa  as  are  likely  to  do 
any  good  ?  All  of  three  million  blacks  who  chose, 
could  then  go  to  aid  in  introducing  the  elements  of 
civil  society  into  Africa  :  and  the  society  could  then 
have  a  wider  field  of  selection;  and  better  subjects 
to  select.  So  that  a  colonization  society  based  on 
any  sound  and  rational  principles  ought  to  advo- 
cate, and  not  oppose  the  project,  of  giving  freedom, 
education  and  religion  to  all  the  blacks  of  our  land. 
Nor  is  there,  in  my  judgment,  any  reason  why  the 
anti-slavery  society  should  attack  a  colonization 
society  based  on  right  principles.  That  is,  one 
which  does  not  profess  to  be  a  remedy  for  slavery, 
and  does  not  affirm  that  the  blacks  cannot  rise  in 
this  country,  because  sinful  prejudice  against  them 
is  too  strong  for  even  Christianity  itself  to  overcome ; 

D   2 


42  ALTON    RIOTS. 

and  which  does  advocate  and  encourage  the  imme- 
diate emancipation  of  slaves  on  grounds  of  duty. 
Such  a  society  the  anti-slavery  societies  ought  not 
to  attack;  and  I  trust  would  not.  But  if  a  society 
whose  professed  end  is  colonization  will  allow  itself 
to  be  used  as  a  means  of  giving  greater  currency 
and  power  to  the  opinion  already  too  powerful,  that 
even  Christianity  cannot  elevate  the  blacks,  in  this 
Christian  land  :  if  it  will  see  slaves,  and  even  free 
blacks,  compelled  to  go  to  Africa  with  their  own 
consent,  by  the  grinding  cruelty  of  compulsive  le- 
gislation, and  utter  no  rebuke;  but  co-operate  with 
the  workers  of  iniquity  :  if  it  will  still  profess  to  be 
a  remedy  for  slavery,  and  oppose  the  only  true  rem- 
edy :  if  it  will  allow  itself  to  be  made  the  channel 
of  popular  odium  against  the  advocates  of  immedi- 
ate emancipation :  if  it  will  allow  its  leading  advo- 
cates to  mark  out  as  enemies  to  the  public  peace 
and  safety,  those  who  are  already  exposed  to  in- 
stant death  by  the  violence  of  the  mob  :  if  it  will 
never  in  the  hour  of  peril,  stimulate  its  members  to 
rally  round  the  standard  of  law  and  human  rights, 
and  stem  the  tide  of  brutal  violence,  and  arrest  the 
reign  of  anarchy  :  then,  by  what  law,  human  or 
divine,  does  it  claim  to  be  exempt  from  censure  ? 
Nay,  more:  from  just  and  merited  abhorrence  ? 

I  desire  not  to  be  misunderstood.  I  make  no 
objection  to  the  enterprise  of  establishing  Christian 
colonies,  without  ardent  spirits,  or  the  spirit  of  con- 
quest, on  the  coast  of  Africa.  A  part  of  the  work 
of  christianizing  Africa,  I  admit,  might  be  done  by 
them,  whilst  at  the  same  time  my  main  hope  lies  in 


ALTON    RIOTS.  43 

direct  missionary  efforts,  and  to  aid  them  I  should 
prefer.  But  the  establishment  of  suitable  colonies 
I  should  never  oppose. 

But  the  diversion  of  the  society  from  its  only  law- 
ful object,  to  the  work  of  opposing  true  principles 
and  disseminating  falsehood,  and  inflaming  the  pub- 
lic mind  against  any  class  of  citizens,  is  a  work  of 
gratuitous  mischief,  which  admits  of  no  apology 
and  no  excuse.  And  that  all  this  has  been  done 
who  can  deny  ? 

Most  freely  do  I  admit  the  purity  of  the  motives 
of  many  of  its  friends  and  advocates.  Nor  would 
I  censure  any  man  whose  own  acts  have  not  ren- 
dered him  worthy  of  censure.  But  ought  not  the 
friends  of  this  society  to  remember  with  what  severe 
scrutiny  they  mark  and  impute  to  the  Anti-slavery 
Society  the  errors  and  imperfections  and  bad '  spirit 
of  any  of  its  members;  and  how  critically  they  note  its 
general  influence  ?  How  often  has  it  been  alleged 
that  Christians  ought  not  to  join  it  for  reasons  like 
these  ?  And  are  not  the  friends  of  the  Colonization 
Society  bound  to  see,  not  only  what  it  professes,  but 
what  it  does  ? 

But  if  in  these  days  of  stormy  excitement  my 
voice  could  be  heard,  I  would  entreat  the  members 
of  that  society  to  pause  and  see  if  endless  hostility 
among  good  men,  on  so  momentous  a  subject,  is  all 
that  remains.  Or  is  it  true  that  opposition  to  the 
principles  of  immediate  emancipation,  and  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  prejudice  against  the  blacks  is  so 
essential  to  the  existence  and  operations  of  the 
Colonization  Society  that  without  them  it  must  die. 


44  ALTON   RIOTS. 

Cannot  it  survive  the  death  of  prejudice  and  error  ? 
If  not,  it  ought  to  die.  But  if  it  has  higher  and 
holier  motives;  if  it  has  ends  worthy  of  a  man  and 
a  Christian;  let  it  arouse  itself  to  its  appropriate 
work:  and  cease  to  impede  the  friends  of  universal 
and  immediate  emancipation  in  the  pursuit  of  theirs 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

On  the  question  of  reestablishing  the  Observer  at 
Alton  there  was  considerable  discussion.  I  was 
undecided  on  the  subject,  and  took  no  part  in  the 
debate.  I  deeply  felt  the  importance  of  it,  if  it 
could  be  done  :  but  having  exerted  myself  in  vain 
to  induce  some  of  the  leading  citizens  to  aid  in  re- 
storing and  defending  it,  was  inclined  to  consider 
it  as  impossible.  Still  I  dared  not  use  any  influ- 
ence to  prevent  an  effort,  should  there  be  any  hope 
of  success.  Many  of  the  friends  of  the  paper  had 
concluded  that  it  was  best  to  remove  it  to  Quincy. 
But  after  discussion  it  was  decided  to  make  ano- 
ther attempt  to  reestablish  it  at  Alton,  with  the  aid 
of  the  citizens.  The  main  reasons  were  : 

1.  That  to  fail  of  reestablishing  law  at  Alton 
would  be  a  calamity  to  the  state  and  country  ;  and 
that  to  allow  the  mob  to  drive  it  from  this  place 
would  embolden  them  to  attack  it  wherever  it 
might  go.  Whereas  in  case  of  a  failure,  nothing 


ALTON    RIOTS  45 

more  would  be  true  of  Alton  than  was  already 
true  :  that  is,  that  the  law  had  been  prostrated  by 
a  mob.  Retreating  could  not  redeem  the  character 
of  Alton,  or  counteract  the  pernicious  influence  of 
the  past.  But  reestablishing  the  press  could. 

2.  The  voice  of  the  nation,  at  least  of  the  great 
majority  said,  it  was  a  question  of  principle  and 
involves  momentous  interests  ;  and  approved  bro- 
ther Lovejoy's  courage  and  firmness,  and  encoura- 
ged him  to  persevere. 

3.  A  member  of  the  convention  from  Cincinnati 
expressed  in  a  most  decided  manner,  the  opinions 
of  friends  at  that  place,  and  said  thai  a  retreat 
here  would  weaken  them,  there,  anJ    ~eiy  where 
else.     He  n.irrafb4  the  good  effects  of  reestablishing 
the  Philanthropist  in  Cincinnati  aftw? "  Mt  had  once 
been  destroyed  by  a  mob.     These  considerations 
exerted  great  influence. 

In  view  of  these  reasons  it  was  decided  to  make 
one  more  effort  to  arouse  the  citizens  of  Alton  to 
restore  the  majesty  of  violated  law.  Thus  ended  the 
week;  and  the  rest  of  the  sabbath  was  near  at  hand. 

It  was  deemed  desirable  that  a  sermon  should 
be  delivered  on  the  subject  of  slavery  ;  and  being 
requested  by  the  society  to  perform  the  duty,  I  con- 
sented. My  main  object  was  to  remove  prejudice, 
allay  excitement,  and  state  the  truth  in  an  unexcep- 
tionable form.  Having  stated  the  truth  I  endeavored 
to  show  the  safety  of  free  and  full  inquiry,  and  the 
danger  of  allowing  the  progress  of  discussion  to 
be  arrested  by  force.  I  was  encouraged  by  the  ap- 


46  ALTON  RIOTS. 

parent  result  to  hope  that  the  Spirit  of  God  was  be- 
ginning to  restore  soundness  to  the  public  mind) 
and  prepared  on  monday  morning  to  leave  the 
city  with  some  cheering  hopes.  On  my  way  I  was 
met  by  a  number  of  citizens  and  requested  to  at- 
tend a  meeting  to  consult  on  the  expediency  of  re- 
establishing the  press.  Finding  that  a  meeting  of 
citizens  was  about  to  agitate  the  question  of  duty, 
I  could  not  refuse  to  stop  at  their  request,  and  par- 
ticipate in  their  deliberations.  A  large  proportion 
of  the  meeting  were  not  abolitionists.  It  was  a 
meeting  of  citizens  of  various  views  on  other  sub- 
jects; hut  united  by  common  views  as  it  regards 
the  importance  of  sustaining- law. 

To  open  the  way  for  discussion  I  moved  that 
it  is  expec**1'*^  to  reestablish  the  Alton  Observer 
under  its  present  editor. 

This  opened  the  way  for  discussion, 

1.  As  to  the  ptinciples  involved  in  defending  the 
right  of  free  inquhy. 

2.  As  to  the  pledge  said  to  have  been  given  by 
Mr.  Lovejoy. 

3.  As  to  the  use  of  force  to  sustain  law. 

On  the  first  point,  I  stated  it  as  my  opinion  that 
it  was  a  fundamental  principle  in  our  government, 
that  there  were  but  two  ways  of  checking  the  pro- 
gress of  sentiments  deemed  erroneous,  and  injurious 
to  the  public  good :  by  law,  or  by  argument :  and 
whatever  these  would  not  reach,  it  was  useless 
and  criminal  to  attempt  to  suppress  by  force ;  that  I 
should  feel  myself  called  upon  to  protect  an  infidel 
or  Mahometan  paper,  if  assailed;  or  to  re-establish 


ALTON  RIOTS.  47 

it,  if  destroyed;  as  much  as  a  paper  designed  to 
advocate  the  truths  of  Christianity.  To  do  other- 
wise would  imply  a  consciousness  of  error  on  my 
own  part,  or  a  distrust  of  the  power  of  God  and  the 
truth  to  defeat  error  in  fair  discussion.  And  that, 
to  allow  a  mob  discretionary  power  in  any  case 
without  law,  without  argument,  to  prostrate  by 
brute  force  a  public  paper,  was  a  virtual  surrender 
of  the  foundations  of  our  civil  government  and  of 
all  religious  toleration.  Such  an  example,  I  told 
them,  was  contagious.  That  its  influence  in  arousing 
the  spirit  of  the  mob  was  already  visible  through 
the  state;  and  that  every  freeman  in  the  state  had 
a  deep  interest  in  the  decision.  It  was  not  a  local 
question;  and  could  not  be  made  such.  The  par- 
tizans  of  mob-law  had  made  a  breach  upon  the  state 
at  one  of  the  most  prominent  points  of  influence  and 
action;  and  that,  in  the  providence  of  God,  they 
stood  in  the  very  Thermopylae  of  the  war — and 
that  it  was  their  solemn  duty  to  be  faithful  to  their 
country  and  to  God. 

,  On  the  second  point,  Mr.  Lovejoy  stated  that  he 
had  never  given  such  a  pledge  as  was  claimed. — 
That  he  did  indeed  say  that  it  was  not  his  purpose 
to  discuss  slavery  as  much  as  he  had;  but  that  he 
did  not  admit  that  they  had  any  right  to  regulate 
his  course  on  the  subject;  and  that  he  .expressly 
reserved  to  himself  the  right  to  say  whatever  at 
any  time  he  might  think  best.  This  statement  was 
fully  confirmed  by  a  large  number  who  were,  pre- 
sent at  the  meeting  in  question. 

On  the  third  point,  I  stated  that  it  was  the  duty 


48  ALTON   RIOTS. 

of  civil  rulers  to  sustain  law  by  force,  as  an  ultimate 
resort:  otherwise  they  would  bear  the  sword  in 
vain;  and  not  be  a  terror  to  evil  doers,  or  a  praise 
to  them  that  do  well.  And  that,  to  deny  that  this 
is  right  and  a  duty  would  dissolve  the  bonds  of  civil 
society  at  once;  and  let  in  an  overwhelming  tide  of 
anarchy  and  crime.  Laws  not  thus  sanctioned  are 
no  laws,  but  mere  advice,  mere  waste  paper,  mere 
cobwebs;  and  that  the  moment  the  defence  of  law 
is  taken  away,  the  hydra-headed  monster  of  private 
warfare  and  revenge  would  deluge  our  land  with 
blood. 

I  exhorted  them  not  to  act  as  individuals,  but 
under  the  civil  authority,  and  in  obedience  to  law; 
admitting  the  right  of  private  self-defence  only  in 
those  cases  in  which  sudden  and  unforeseen  attacks 
precluded  the  possibility  of  resorting  to  the  law  in 
self-defence :  as,  when  assailed  by  an  assassin,  or  a 
highway  robber. 

In  answer  to  the  inquiry,  what  is  meant  by  the 
direction — "when  they  persecute  you  in  one  city 
flee  to  another" — I  gave  it  as  my  opinion,  that  this 
is  a  duty  when  the  government  itself  is  the  perse- 
cutor, or  refuses  to  defend;  and  under  such  a  gov- 
ernment those  to  whom  Christ  spoke  were.  But 
so  long  as  a  government  will  defend  its  subjects 
they  ought  to  appeal  to  it  and  not  flee.  And  I  did 
not  yet  regard  it  as  settled  that  the  government  of 
Alton  would  not  defend  Mr.  Lovejoy;  and  that  the 
community  ought  to  be  aroused  to  do  their  duty. 
But  if  the  question  were  once  settled  that  the  gov- 
ernment of  Alton  will  not  defend  a  citizen  aeainst 


ALTON    RIOTS.  49 

the  violence  of  a  mob,  I  would  exhort  him,  if  per- 
secuted there,  to  flee  elsewhere.  But  this  was  the 
very  point  in  question,  whether  things  had  come  to 
this  pass.  I  hoped  and  believed  that  they  had  not. 
I  felt  sure  that  a  little  energy  on  the  part  of  leading 
men  could  restore  the  laws  to  their  wonted  power. 

Application  was  made  to  the  Mayor  for  aid  and 
direction;  which  he  readily  consented  to  give.  A 
regular  company  of  city  guard  was  afterwards  or- 
ganized to  act  under  him  in  accordance  with  law. 

Whilst  at  this  meeting,  a  request  was  handed  to 
me,  signed  by  a  number  of  respectable  citizens  of 
Upper  Alton,  not  abolitionists,  that  I  would  resume 
the  subject  of  slavery  at  the  point  where  I  left  it  on 
the  Sabbath,  and  carry  out  the  principles  then  ad- 
vanced to  the  final  removal  of  the  evil  from  the 
country ;  and  pledging  themselves  that  there  should 
be  no  disturbance.  Accordingly  I  preached  in  the 
evening;  and  all  was  quiet.  I  endeavored  to  show 
the  importance  of  diffusing  a  kind  spirit  throughout 
the  nation,  and  of  convincing  the  slave  states  of 
our  interest  in  them;  so  that  the  subject  might  be 
fairly  discussed  and  they  convinced  of  the  safety 
of  the  plan,  and  induced  to  carry  it  out.  I  endea- 
vored also  to  show  that  there  was  no  need  of  colli- 
sion between  the  Colonization  and  Anti-Slavery 
Societies,  if  each  would  take  a  proper  ground,  and 
maintain  no  false  principles  of  action:  and  endea- 
vored to  point  out  how  this  could  be  done:  for  I 
was  desirous  to  arrest  the  progress  of  strife  between 
the  two  societies. 

Again,  by  request  of  many  gentlemen  in  Alton, 
E 


50  ALTON    RIOTS. 

not  worshiping  in  the  Presbyterian  church,  I  re- 
peated my  first  sermon  on  Wednesday  evening. 
During  this  day  threats  of  violence  were  made ;  and 
in  accordance  with  the  direction  of  the  Mayor,  arms 
were  placed  in  a  house  adjacent  to  the  church,  to 
be  used  by  men  designated  for  the  purpose,  if  need- 
ful. Some  slight  indications  of  violence  occurring, 
it  was  at  once  quelled  by  the  appearance  of  the 
guard,  and  the  sermon  was  closed  in  quiet.  Had  it 
not  been  for  this  arrangement,  serious  acts  of  vio- 
lence might  have  occurred;  and  those  best  able  to 
judge  do  not  doubt  that  it  would  have  been  so. 
Subsequent  events  do  not  render  it  at  all  improb- 
able. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

WE  now  come  to  a  series  of  events  upon  which 
the  final  result  of  all  our  proceedings  was  destined 
to  turn.  I  refer  to  the  meetings  of  citizens  on  the 
second  and  third  of  November. 

The  resolution  of  the  meeting  of  citizens  to  re- 
establish and  defend  the  Observer  soon  became 
known;  and  excited  in  some  minds  no  little  fer- 
ment ;  and  probably  gave  rise  to  the  subsequent 
meetings.  To  give  a  clear  insight  into  the  design 
and  proceedings  of  these  meetings,  it  is  necessary  to 
advert  to  the  state  of  the  community  in  Alton  at 
that  time.  The  whole  community  might  be  divided 


ALTON    RIOTS.  51 

into  four  classes.  1.  The  abolitionists:  2.  The 
friends  of  law  and  order  who  were  willing  to  defend 
their  rights,  though  they  did  not  agree  with  them 
in  opinion:  3.  Those  who  professed  to  be  friends 
of  law  and  order  in  general,  but  who  permitted 
their  feelings  of  opposition  to  the  opinions  of  the 
abolitionists  so  much  to  influence  their  conduct,  that 
they  refused  to  act  in  sustaining  the  law;  because, 
by  sustaining  the  law  they  thought  that  they  should 
in  fact,  be  sustaining  abolitionists:  4.  The  mob. 
Of  these  classes  the  first  two  acted  together  in  de- 
fending the  press;  not  as  abolitionists,  but  as  friends 
of  law  and  order,  and  for  the  sake  of  maintaining 
the  great  principles  of  society.  Against  them  was 
arrayed  the  mob.  The  other  class  in  which  were 
found  most  of  the  members  of  the  Colonization 
Society,  and  of  the  leading  business  and  profession- 
al men  of  the  place,  professed  to  take  the  ground  of 
neutrality;  and  to  regard  the  others  in  the  light  of 
hostile  parties,  and  themselves  as  unexcited,  mod- 
erate, judicious  men,  and  as  adapted  to  be  medi- 
ators between  the  two.  Though  then*  feelings  were 
decidedly  opposed  to  the  abolitionists,  yet  in  their 
better  judgment  they  knew  that  it  was  wrong  to  put 
them  down  by  force.  I  well  knew  that  in  this  class 
lay  the  whole  controlling  power  of  the  community; 
and  if  they  could  be  brought  to  take  decided  ground 
in  defence  of  law,  the  work  was  done.  To  do  this 
I  had  sought  for  some  time,  but  no  opportunity  was 
presented  to  gain  access  to  them  in  a  body.  I  had 
prepared  the  principles  which  I  wished  to  present 
to  them,  at  first  with  the  thought  of  offering  them 


52  ALTON   RIOTS. 

at  a  meeting  of  the  Colonization  Society  which  was 
near  at  hand;  but  being  convinced  that  they  would 
be  deemed  inappropriate,  I  was  deliberating  in  my 
own  mind  the  expediency  of  returning  home  by  the 
stage. 

At  this  time,  as  I  was  walking  in  the  street  with 
Mr.  W.  S.  Oilman,  we  were  met  by  Rev.  J.  Hogan. 
He  informed  us  that  there  was  a  terrible  state  of 
things,  and  wished  to  know  if  something  could  not 
be  done  to  allay  the  excitement.  I  expressed  it  as 
my  opinion,  that  if  certain  men  would  pass  certain 
resolutions  which  I  then  had,  and  act  upon  them 
With  decision,  all  would  be  quiet  before  sun-down. 
Mr.  Gilman  then  suggested  the  calling  of  a  meeting 
of  leading  individuals;  and  Mr.  Hogan  approved  of 
it  and  consented  to  notify  them  to  meet  in  his  store. 
At  this  meeting  were  some  of  the  prominent  mer- 
chants and  professional  men,  together  with  some  of 
the  clergy. 

My  main  purpose  was  to  cpnvince  them  of  two 
things. 

1.  That  it  was  not  on  the  merits  of  the  senti- 
ments of  abolitionists  which  they  were  called  to  de- 
cide ;  but  simply  on  the  question  of  sustaining  law 
and  order. 

2.  That  it  was  not  a  mere  question  of  feeling  or 
expediency;  but  of  duty.     That  they  had  no  right 
to  be  neutral  on  such  a  question,  involving  as  it 
did,  the  very  existence  of  civil  society. 

And  I  confess  that  I  did  fondly  hope  that  I  could 
convince  them  on  these  points.  Accordingly  I 


ALTON  RIOTS.  53 

laid  before  them  the  following  resolutions  for  their 
approval. 

Resolved,  1.  That  the  free  communication  of 
thoughts  and  opinions  is  one  of  the  invaluable 
rights  of  man;  and  that  every  citizen  may  freely 
speak,  write  and  print  on  any  subject,  being  respon- 
sible for,  the  abuse  of  that  liberty. 

2.  That  the  abuse  of  this  right  is  the  only  legal 
ground  for  restraining  its  use. 

3.  That  the  question  of  abuse  must  be  decided 
solely  by  a  regular  civil  court,  and  in  accordance 
with  the  law,  and  not  by  an  irresponsible  and  un- 
organized portion  of  the  community,  be  it  great  or 
small. 

4.  For  restraining  what  the  law  will  not  reach, 
we  are  to  depend  solely  on  argument  and  moral 
means,  aided  by  the  controlling  influences  of  the 
Spirit  of  God;  and  that  these  means,  appropriately 
used,  furnish  an  ample  defense  against  all  ultimate 
prevalence  of  false  principles  and  unhealthy  ex- 
citement. 

5.  That  when  discussion  is  free  and  unrestrained, 
and  proper  means  are  used,  the  triumph  of  truth  is 
certain — and  that  with  the  triumph  of  truth,  the  re- 
turn of  peace  is  sure ;  but  that  all  attempts  to  check 
or  prohibit  discussion,  will  cause  a  daily  increase 
of  excitement  until  such  checks  or  prohibitions  are 
removed. 

6.  That   our  maintenance  of   these    principles 
should  be  independent  of  all  regard  to  persons  or 
sentiments. 

7.  That  we  are  more  especially  called  on  to  main- 

E2 


54  ALTON   RIOTS. 

tain  them  in  case  of  unpopular  sentiments  or  per- 
sons, as  in  no  other  case  will  any  effort  to  maintain 
them  be  needed. 

8.  That  these  principles  demand  the  protection 
of  the  editor  and  of  the  press  of  the  Alton  Observer, 
on  grounds  of  principle  solely,  and  altogether  dis- 
connected with  approbation  of  his  sentiments,  per- 
sonal character  or  course  as  editor  of  the  paper. 

9.  That  on  these  grounds  alone,  and  irrespective 
of  all  political,  moral,  or  religious  differences,  but 
solely  as  American  citizens,  from  a  sacred  regard  to 
the  great  principles  of  civil  society,  to  the  welfare 
of  our  country,  to  the  reputation  and  honor  of  our 
city,  to  our  own  dearest  rights  and  privileges,  and 
those  of  our  children,  we  will  protect  the  press,  the 
property  and  the  editor  of  the  Alton  Observer,  and 
maintain  him  in  the  free  exercise  of  his  rights,  to 
print  and  publish  whatever  he  pleases,  in  obedience 
to  the  supreme  laws  of  the  land,  and  under  the 
guidance   and  directions  of  the   constituted  civil 
authorities,  he  being  responsible  for  the  abuse  of 
this  liberty  only  to  the  laws  of  the  land. 

The  principles  of  these  resolutions  seemed  to  me 
self-evident.  Nay,  I  thought  them  so  clear  that  all 
candid  men  would  pass  them  by  an  unanimous 
vote.  I  therefore  did  not  enlarge  upon  them;  but 
knowing  that  a  deep-rooted  feeling  against  the 
abolitionists  was  liable  to  blind  their  minds,  I  en- 
deavored to  overcome  its  influence  by  the  most 
powerful  considerations. 

I  endeavored  to  convince  them  that  with  the 
friends  of  Mr.  Lovejoy  it  was  a  question,  not  of 


ALTON  KIOTS.  55 

feeling,  but  of  deep  religious  principle.  That  they 
were  not  fanatics  and  enthusiasts,  but  devoted,  con- 
scientious men;  and  that  it  was  not  only  wrong  but 
unsafe,  to  attempt  to  repress  by  violence  the  con- 
scientious efforts  of  such  men.  To  sustain  these 
views,  I  read  the  following  extracts  from  a  speech 
of  the  Hon.  Daniel  Webster. 

"  On  the  general  question  of  slavery,  a  great  por- 
tion of  the  community  is  already  strongly  excited. 
The  subject  has  not  only  attracted  attention  as  a 
question  of  Politics,  but  has  struck  a  far  deeper- 
toned  chord.  It  has  arrested  the  Religious  feelings 
of  the  country;  it  has  taken  strong  hold  on  the  Con- 
sciences of  men.  He  is  a  rash  man,  indeed,  little 
conversant  with  human  nature,  and  especially  has 
he  a  very  erroneous  estimate  of  the  character  of  the 
people  of  this  country,  who  supposes  that  a  feeling 
of  this  kind  is  to  be  Trifled  with  or  Despised.  It 
will  assuredly  Cause  itself  to  be  Respected.  It 
may  be  reasoned  with;  it  may  be  made  willing — I 
believe  it  is  entirely  willing — to  fulfil  all  existing 
engagements,  and  all  existing  duties;  to  uphold  and 
defend  the  constitution,  as  it  is  established,  with 
whatever  regret  about  some  provisions  which  it  does 
actually  contain.  But  to  coerce  it  into  silence — to 
endeavor  to  restrain  its  free  expression — to  seek  to 
compress  and  confine  it,  warm  as  it  is,  and  more 
heated  as  such  endeavors  would  inevitably  render 
it — should  all  this  be  attempted,  I  know  nothing 
even  in  the  Constitution  or  in  the  Union  itself, 
which  would  not  be  Endangered  by  the  Explosion 
Avhich  might  follow," 


56  ALTON    RIOTS 

I  also  referred  to  the  fact  that  even  Clarkson  and 
Wilberforce,  with  their  coadjutors,  names  which  the 
world  now  delights  to  honor,  were,  when  they  first 
began  to  oppose  the  slave-trade,  stigmatized  as  fan- 
atics and  enthusiasts:  and  assured  them  that  it  was 
as  vain  to  attempt  to  oppose  the  progress  of  inves- 
tigation by  exciting  popular  odium  now  as  then. 

I  referred  them  to  the  fact  that  the  opponents  of 
the  abolitionists  had  the  majority  in  numbers  and 
wealth  in  Alton ;  and  that  if  the  views  of  the  aboli- 
tionists were  false,  they  surely  had  in  that  vast  ma- 
jority power  of  intellect  enough  to  expose  them; 
and  that  to  allow  the  use  of  force  was  to  confess 
that  they  could  not  defeat  them  by  argument.  I 
here  read  the  following  extracts  from  papers  pub- 
lished in  the  slave  states,  and  entreated  them  not  to 
be  more  zealous  in  behalf  of  slaveholders,  than  they 
were  in  their  own  behalf. 

"  Outrage.  We  learn  from  the  St.  Louis  Repub- 
lican that  on  the  21st,  a  printing  press  which  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Lovejoy  had  just  received  at  Alton  for 
the  purpose  of  re-establishing  the  Observer,  was 
taken  from  the  house  where  it  had  been  stored,  and 
thrown  into  the  Mississippi.  The  Observer  was 
tainted  with  abolitionism,  and  the  people,  or  a  por- 
tion of  them  at  least,  of  Alton,  are  unwilling  that  it 
shall  be  published  at  that  place.  We  have  before 
spoken  of  our  regret  that  the  rights  of  citizens  can- 
not be  secured  in  a  land  which  claims  to  be  govern- 
ed by  law.  Mr.  Lovejoy  has  the  right  of  publish- 
ing his  paper  even  in  Alton,  and  however  we  may 
differ  from  him  in  relation  to  his  tenets,  we  certain- 


ALTON   RIOTS.  57 

ly  admire  the  tenacity  with  which  he  clings  to  them, 
and  the  pertinacity  with  which  he  asserts  his  right 
to  disseminate  his  principles." — Lou.  Gaz. 

"  We  agree  with  our  friend  of  the  Louisville 
Gazette,  that  the  rights  of  Mr.  Lovejoy  have  mani- 
festly been  violated.  And  we  will  add  a  query  for 
the  consideration  of  the  violators.  Do  you  not  ad- 
mit the  truth  and  moral  force  of  the  sentiments 
promulgated,  when  you  resort  to  illegal,  animal, 
or  brute  force  to  postpone  their  promulgation?" — 
Lexington  Intelligencer. 

I  appealed  to  their  generous  and  magnanimous 
feelings;  and  asked  them  if  it  was  honorable  for 
the  vast  majority  to  allow  the  rights  of  a  minority,  or 
an  individual,  to  be  trampled  on  because  he  is  weak. 

I  observed  that  in  a  popular  government  the 
rights  of  minorities,  and  of  individuals  ought  to  be 
guarded  with  peculiar  care,  otherwise  they  would 
degenerate  into  the  most  odious  tyrannies. 

I  endeavored  to  convince  them  that  to  re-estab- 
lish law  was  essential  to  their  temporal  interests; 
and  that  not  to  do  it  would  be  ruinous. 

I  reminded  them  of  the  infinite  value  of  the  op- 
portunity now  in  their  hands  to  gain  a  glorious  vic- 
tory in  behalf  of  principle ;  to  wipe  off  the  disgrace 
which  now  rested  on  their  city;  and  to  stand  high- 
er in  the  eye  of  the  Christian  world  than  ever  before: 
and  that,  if  now  lost  it  could  never  be  recalled. 

I  adjured  them  to  regard  the  honor  of  our  coun- 
try, and  the  welfare  of  the  civilized  world  as  con- 
nected with  the  fate  of  our  institutions:  and  warned 
them  against  suffering  a  new  stigma  to  be  infixed 


58  ALTON    RIOTS. 

on  our  national  character  by  permitting  the  perman- 
ent triumph  of  misrule  in  their  city.  To  sustain 
these  views  I  read  to  them  from  Dr.  Channing's 
letter  to  H.  Clay,  the  following  deeply  aifecting 
view  of  the  influence  of  past  scenes  of  riot  on  the 
opinions  of  the  world  concerning  us  as  a  nation. 

"That  the  cause  of  republicanism  is  suffering 
abroad  through  the  defects  and  crimes  of  our  coun 
trymen,  is  as  true  as  that  it  is  regarded  with  in 
creased  skepticism  among  ourselves.  Abroad,  re- 
publicanism is  identified  with  the  United  States ;  and 
it  is  certain  that  the  American  name  has  not  risen 
of  late  in  the  world.  It  so  happens  that  whilst 
writing,  I  have  received  a  newspaper  from  England, 
in  which  Lynch  law  is  as  familiarly  associated  with 
our  country,  as  if  it  were  one  of  our  establishments. 
We  are  quoted  as  monuments  of  the  degrading 
tendencies  of  popular  institutions.  When  I  visited 
England,  fifteen  years  ago,  republican  sentiments 
•were  freely  expressed  to  me.  1  should  probably 
hear  none  now.  Men's  minds  seem  to  be  return- 
ing  to  severer  principles  of  government;  and  this 
country  is  responsible  for  a  part  of  this  change.  It 
is  believed  abroad  that  property  is  less  secure 
among  us,  order  less  stable,  law  less  revered,  social 
ties  more  easily  broken,  religion  less  enforced,  life 
held  less  sacred,  than  in  other  countries.  Undoubt- 
edly the  prejudices  of  foreign  nations,  the  interests 
of  foreign  governments  have  led  to  gross  exaggera- 
tions of  evils  here.  The  least  civilized  parts  of  the 
country  are  made  to  represent  the  whole;  and  oc- 
casional atrocities  are  construed  into  habits.  But 


ALTON  RIOTS.  59 

who  does  not  feel  that  we  have  given  cause  of  re- 
proach ?  And  shall  we  fix  this  reproach  and  exas- 
perate it  into  indignation  and  hatred,  by  adopting  a 
policy  against  which  the  moral  sentiments  of  the 
Christian  world  revolt  ?  Shall  we  make  the  name 
of  republic  "  a  stench  in  the  nostrils  of  all  nations  ?" 

I  reminded  them  of  the  connection  of  their  con- 
duct with  the  welfare  of  Illinois;  and  told  them  that 
the  permanent  triumph  of  the  mob  in  Alton  would 
weaken  the  power  of  law  throughout  the  state;  and 
that  it  was  not,  and  could  not  be  made  a  question 
of  local  interest,  since  it  affected  principles  involving 
the  rights  of  all. 

In  conclusion,  I  reminded  them  that  they  were 
acting  on  the  great  theatre  of  the  world,  and  in  the 
midst  of  attentive  nations.  That  the  proceedings 
of  this  day  would  ere  long  be  reviewed  in  Exeter 
Hall,  in  London,  and  in  every  Christian  nation;  and 
urged  them  to  rise  above  local  influences  and  feel- 
ings, and  act  as  in  view  of  the  civilized  world. 

Had  my  audience  consisted  solely  of  persons  not 
committed  to  the  mob,  the  appeal  might  have  been 
successful.  But  I  noticed  before  I  closed,  that  a 
number  had  come  in,  who  were  in  public  sentiment 
identified  with  the  instigators  or  actors  in  the  pre- 
ceding riotous  proceedings. 

I  did  hope,  notwithstanding,  that  among  those 
who  were  not  thus  committed,  my  resolutions  would 
have  found  an  a  '  ocate.  I  was  pleading,  not  for 
men,  but  for  principles,  the  importance  of  which 
language  cannot  utter:  principles  in  which  are  in- 
volved all  that  man  holds  dear  on  earth.  Before 


60  ALTON    RIOTS. 

me  were  ministers  of  the  gospel,  members  of  vari- 
ous churches,  learned  civilians,  and  men  of  the 
highest  standing  in  the  commercial  world.  From 
some  of  them  at  least  I  anticipated  a  warm  response. 
It  was  not  an  hour  of  excitement  or  of  tumult.  I 
had  not  before  me  an  infuriated  mob:  but  ^lose  who 
gloried  in  being  esteemed  the  calm,  thoughtful  and 
judicious  men  of  the  place:  the  arbiters  of  public 
opinion  and  the  conservators  of  the  peace.  Judge 
then  of  the  chill  which  fell  upon  my  heart  when  not 
a  single  voice  was  raised  in  behalf  of  principles  so 
sacred;  of  interests  so  vast. 

The  audience  seemed  to  be  taken  by  surprise. — 
Some  observed  that  they  had  mistaken  the  nature 
of  the  meeting:  others,  that  they,  thought  the  meet- 
ing was  called  for  the  sake  of  compromise ;  and 
others  said  nothing. — One  moved  to  lay  the  resolu- 
tion on  the  table. 

Another  professed  to  see  no  use  in  passing  such 
resolutions.  The  principles  were  nothing  new;  they 
were  already  incorporated  in  our  bill  of  rights,  and 
we  could  give  them  no  new  force  by  passing  them 
now.  He  also  remarked,  that  to  pass  these  resolu- 
tions was  virtually  to  condemn  ourselves;  for  it 
could  not  be  denied  that  some  leading  men  of  the 
city  had  promoted,  or  at  least  connived  at  what  had 
been  done :  and  it  could  not  be  expected  that  any 
party  should  own  itself  entirely  in  the  wrong. 

In  behalf  of  what  particular  individuals  he  spoke 
he  did  not  inform  us;  but,  as  he  was  not  contradict- 
ed, I  suppose  that  some  of  the  mob  were  there,  ac- 
cording to  my  previous  impressions.  Whether  they 


ALTON   RIOTS.  61 

came  in  by  invitation  or  by  intrusion  I  have  not 
been  informed.  At  all  events  their  interests  were 
represented  as  inconsistent  with  the  passage  of  the 
resolutions  proposed  :  and  as  no  one  objected  to 
these  remarks,  it  seemed  to  be  the  sense  of  the  meet- 
ing, that  they  ought  to  consult  not  only  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  laws,  but  also  for  the  feelings  of  the 
mob,  and  not  require  them  to  acknowledge  that 
they  had  been  entirely  in  the  wrong. 

That  intelligent  men,  ministers  of  the  gospel, 
church  members,  and  civilians  should  not  have  seen 
the  grossness  of  this  principle  may  well  excite  sur- 
prise. And  that  they  should  have  abstained  from 
passing  resolutions  the  simple  import  of  which  was, 
that  they  would  maintain  the  law,  lest  they  should 
censure  its  violaters,  is  still  more  surprising  !  But 
that  they  should  finally  appoint  a  committee  of  com- 
promise between  the  friends  of  law  and  the  mob, 
after  refusing  to  vote  to  sustain  the  law,  is  a  phe- 
nomenon that  sets  even  wonder  at  defiance  !  Yet 
so  it  was. 

A  reverend  gentleman,  after  speaking  of  the  spirit 
of  the  resolutions  as  good  in  general,  and  as  meet- 
ing his  decided  approbation,  hoped  that  they  might 
lead  to  some  compromise  by  which  the  contending 
parties  might  be  united  and  harmony  restored.  An- 
other speaker  was  of  the  same  opinion;  and  it  was 
voted  that  they  be  referred  to  a  committee. 

Of  course,  as  the  contending  parties  were — the 
friends  of  the  law,  and  the  mob — and  as  a  compro- 
mise was  to  be  effected  between  them  by  the  moder- 
ate party,  each  must  be  represented  in  the  committee. 
F 


62  ALTON    RIOTS. 

Let  us  now  look  at  the  claims  of  the  parties  to  be 
reconciled.  And  first,  of  the  mob. 

They  claimed  the  right  to  demand  of  Mr.  Love- 
joy  to  cease  printing  in  Alton;  and  if  he  would  not, 
to  compel  him  by  force,  by  sacking  his  office,  break- 
ing his  presses,  abusing  his  person,  and  threatening 
his  life. 

The  friends  of  law  claimed  that  he  had  an  inal- 
ienable right  to  do  all  that  the  others  forbad;  and 
that  the  community  were  sacredly  bound  by  a  re- 
gard to  God  and  the  welfare  of  society  to  defend 
him. 

And  the  duty  assigned  to  the  committee  was,  to 
relieve  the  mob  from  the  necessity  of  confessing 
that  they  were  entirely  wrong;  the  moderate  party 
from  voting  to  sustain  the  laws;  and  finally,  by  a 
compromise  to  unite  in  harmonious  society,  the 
friends  and  enemies  of  the  law. 

It  will  at  once  be  perceived  that  to  perform  such 
a  task,  required  no  common  ability.  And  if  the 
committee  did  not  finally  succeed  in  their  work,  we 
shall  do  them  injustice  if  we  do  not  remember  how 
arduous  was  the  enterprise  they  undertook. 

But,  to  be  serious,  I  could  not  contain  my  sur- 
prise when  I  heard  sober  and  serious  men  talk  of  a 
compromise  in  such  a  case.  I  did  think  that  they 
would  see  how  hopeless  the  task,  and  return  to  the 
sure,  safe  and  consistent  ground  of  recommending  a 
a  maintenance  of  the  law. 

Before  the  meeting  closed  the  following  resolu- 
tion was  passed : 

"  Resolved  unanimously  by  this  meeting,  That 


ALTON   RIOTS  63 

in  the  interim  between  the  adjournment  and  re-as- 
sembling hereof,  if  any  infraction  of  the  peace  be 
attempted  by  any  party  or  set  of  men,  in  this  com- 
munity, we  will  aid  to  the  utmost  of  our  power  in 
the  maintenance  of  the  laws." 

The  object  of  this  has  been  variously  understood. 
I  at  the  time  understood  it  to  refer  to  the  press 
which  was  hourly  expected.  Certain  it  is,  that  at 
this  time  a  steamboat  was  coming  up  the  river,  in 
which  it  was  supposed  the  press  might  be.  It  is 
also  true  that  it  had  been  the  avowed  purpose  of 
the  mob  to  destroy  the  press  as  soon  as  landed;  and 
that  boats  had  been  searched  and  strangers  abused 
and  insulted;  and  in  one  instance  an  effort  made  to 
throw  overboard  a  box  of  hardware  of  a  passen- 
ger under  the  idea  that  the  box  contained  a  press. 
In  advocating  the  resolution  it  was  remarked  that 
it  was  not  necessary  to  destroy  the  press  at  once  if 
at  all.  The  execution  of  that  work  might  at  all 
events  be  suspended  till  the  next  meeting. 

Undersiand  it  as  you  will,  it  evidently  implied  that 
either  the  mob  or  their  leaders  were  there:  That 
there  was  there  the  power  to  arrest  violence,  or  to 
say  to  it,  Go  on,  and  "  let  slip  the  dogs  of  war." 

Though  deeply  disappointed  in  my  fond  antici- 
pations of  good,  I  did  not  despair.  I  reflected 
that  there  were  men  on  that  committee  of  high 
standing  and  great  influence;  that  they  were  to  re- 
port on  great  and  fundamental  principles;  and  that 
they  were  connected  with  a  series  of  transactions 
which  had  already  arrested  the  attention  of  the 
whole  union;  and  would  soon  be  known  through- 


64  ALTON   RIOTS. 

out  the  civilized  world.  It  seemed  to  me  that  even 
a  regard  to  character  and  reputation,  if  no  high- 
er motive,  would  induce  them  to  take  enlarged 
and  liberal  views,  such  as  would  be  in  coincidence 
with  the  spirit  of  the  age.  However,  having  done 
all  in  my  power,  I  endeavored  to  commit  the  case 
to  God,  and  patiently  wait  the  result. 

At  this  meeting  Mr.  Lovejoy  was  not  present; 
nor,  as  a  general  fact,  any  of  the  leading  suppor- 
ters of  the  press.  Mr.  W.  S.  Oilman  is  an  ex- 
ception. It  was  well  known  that  he  was  a  decided 
supporter  of  the  press,  and  that  he  suggested  the 
meeting  to  Mr.  Hogan,  in  order  that  the  resolutions 
proposed  by  me  might  be  passed.  But  it  was  the 
design  that  the  meeting  should  consist  of  moderate, 
influential,  and  respectable  men. 

A  meeting  of  the  Colonization  Society  was  held 
in  the  evening.  The  leading  /speakers  were,  Rev. 
J.  Hogan,  Rev.  J.  M.  Peck,  Rev.  Joel  Parker,  and 
one  whose  name  I  cannot  recall.  A  favorable  op- 
portunity was  now  presented  to  inculcate  upon  the 
audience  the  importance  of  sustaining  the  laws. 
Perhaps  it  may  be  thought  that  this  is  foreign  from 
the  object  of  the  society.  If  so,  it  would  seem  to 
be  equally  foreign  from  its  object  to  attack  the  opin- 
ions of  the  abolitionists;  especially  as  at  this  time 
public  feeling  against  them  was  sufficiently  high. 
Still,  in  two  instances  their  opinions  were  pointedly 
attacked,  and  one  speaker  took  considerable  pains 
to  go  out  of  his  way  to  do  it. 


ALTON  P.IOTS  65 


CHAPTER  X. 


During  the  next  forenoon  I  did  not  leave  my 
room.  A  weight  was  upon  my  mind.  I  felt  that 
momentous  interests  were  at  stake;  and  that  there 
was  aid  in  none  but  in  God.  Brother  Lovejoy  and 
Hale  called  in,  and  we  spent  a  season  together  in 
prayer. 

Never  shall  I  forget  the  calmness  of  Mr.  Love- 
joy's  mind,  his  sense  of  the  presence  of  God,  and 
the  child-like  confidence  with  which  he  committed 
his  cause  to  Him  that  heareth  prayer.  How  he 
interceded  for  the  cause  of  God,  and  prayed  espe- 
cially for  the  best  good  of  the  community  in  which 
he  dwelt!  He  earnestly  supplicated  for  an  abiding 
sense  of  the  presence  of  God  and  for  strength  that 
he  might  not  betray  his  cause  in  the  hour  of  trial. 

He  was  perfectly  cool  and  collected,  and  awaited 
the  result  of  the  report  of  the  committee  with  great 
tranquillity  of  mind.  He  deeply  regretted  that  a 
right  decision  on  principles  of  such  moment  had 
been  declined  by  a  select  circle  of  the  most  influen- 
tial men  in  the  place,  and  that  under  the  influence 
of  such  an  act  the  question  was  now  to  be  thrown 
before  a  promiscuous  assembly,  many  of  whom 
were  so  deeply  committed  to  the  wrong  side.  The 
very  reason  of  calling  the  meeting  was  to  induce 
leading  men  to  pledge  themselves  on  the  side  of  law 
and  good  order,  well  knowing  that  if  they  would 
F  2 


66  ALTON    RIOTS. 

do  it,  it  would  be  an  easy  matter  to  induce  the 
whole  community  to  do  the  same.     Yet  we  had 
some  hope  in  the  fact  that  it  seemed  almost  impos- 
sible that  a  committee  including  so  many  intelligent 
men  should  dare  to  hazard  their  reputation  in  the 
eyes  of  the  civilized  world  by  recommending  a  dis- 
regard of  principles  so  plain.     At  all  events,  what- 
ever their  decision  might  be,  he  had  made  up  his 
mind  as  to  his  course.     It  was  not  a  blind  impulse, 
but  a  decision  founded  on  reasons.     They  were 
these.    No  effort  to  defend  the  press  by  force  under 
the  civil  authorities  had  been  made.    Hence,  though 
the  actual  number  of  the  mob  was  reputed  to  be 
small,  they  had  held  undisputed  sway.     And  he 
had  no  doubt  that  a  decided  resistance,  even  of  a 
comparatively  small  number  of  resolute  men,  under 
the  civil  authorities,  would  be  amply  sufficient  to 
defend  the  press.   And  after  the  resolution  of  a  large 
number  of  citizens  to  defend  it,  under  the  guidance 
of  the  civil  authority;  and  especially  since  the  mayor 
had  promised  to  fulfil  his  duties  as  head  of  the  city 
authorities,  Mr.  Lovejoy  considered  it  as  decided 
that  the   press  could  and  would  be  defended. — 
Especially  as  Mr.  W.  S.  Gilman  had  agreed  to  de- 
posit it  for  safe  keeping  in  his  store  till  it  could  be 
established  in  some  equally  defensible  place.     The 
store  was  of  stone,  and  as  it  seemed  to  him  impos- 
sible to  be  stormed  by  a  mob.     And  he  thought 
that  a  regard  for  the  owners  of  the  store,  so  highly 
respected  throughout  the  state,  and  to  whose  enter- 
prize  and  capital  the  place  was  so  deeply  indebted, 
would  almost  of  itself  be  a  sufficient  defense. 


ALTON    RIOTS.  67 

It  was  now  to  him  a  question  of  personal  safety. 
He  knew  that  as  an  individual  he  could  not  always 
be  defended,  and  that  he  was  liable  at  any  hour  to 
perish  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin  or  the  fury  of 
some  midnight  mob.  His  house  was  at  the  eastern 
extremity  of  Alton,  and  it  was  from  the  centre  of 
business,  where  his  office  would  be,  a  long  and  in 
some  parts  lonely  walk,  during  which  he  could 
easily  be  waylaid.  He  supposed  also  that  the 
whole  pressure  of  motive  would  now  be  made  to 
bear  on  his  love  of  life  and  regard  to  his  family,  to 
induce  him  to  flee.  And  after  a  long  and  deliberate 
view  of  the  case,  his  friends  had  decided,  that,  place 
the  press  where  you  might  in  this  state,  in  any  suit- 
able position,  the  example  of  Alton  would  stimulate 
the  friends  of  mob-law  to  assail  and  endanger  his 
life.  Even  the  fact  that  he  had  once  left  St.  Louis 
seemed  now  continually  to  spur  them  on. 

It  was  to  him,  therefore,  simply  a  question  of 
duty.  Was  it  his  duty  to  resign  the  ground  at  once, 
and  let  another  take  his  place;  or  at  all  hazards  to 
maintain  his  post  ? 

But  so  highly  did  the  great  proportion  of  his 
readers  value  him  as  an  editor,  and  such  was  the 
sympathy  for  him  throughout  the  nation,  that  his 
friends  felt  that  the  paper  would  go  down  at  once  as  soon 
as  he  left  it;  especially  under  such  an  editor  as  the 
mob  would  allow.  For  they  saw  clearly  that  it  was 
not  his  imprudencies,  but  his  sentiments  and  pur- 
poses which  were  the  real  ground  of  offense.  It 
therefore  resolved  itself  in  his  mind  into  one  simple 
question;  Could  he»as  a  friend  of  God  and  man  de- 


68  ALTON   RIOTS. 

sert  the  cause  in  which  he  was  engaged  to  save  his 
life?  and  on  this  his  decision  was  unwavering. 

He  had  often  expressed  his  willingness  to  do  any 
thing  which  was  for  the  good  of  the  cause  which  he 
advocated.  But  when  his  friends  had  pronounced 
the  opinion  that  there  was  no  gain  to  be  expected, 
and  might  be  much  loss  in  a  removal ;  and  that  if 
he  resigned  his  post  as  editor  the  paper  would  soon 
die,  his  mind  never  wavered  again. 

All  these  points  were  fully  discussed  at  the  meet- 
ing at  his  house  at  which  I  was  not  present;  but  of 
which  I  was  afterwards  informed. 

Seeing  the  position  of  his  mind,  I  made  no  effort 
to  change  it;  for  I  saw  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the 
grounds  assumed  by  his  friends  were  true:  and 
much  as  I  loved  him  and  his  family,  I  did  not  dare 
to  allow  my  personal  feelings  to  induce  me  to  at- 
tempt to  divert  him  from  what  seemed  to  him  so 
clearly  the  path  of  duty — and  to  me  also,  if  such 
were  the  facts.  Moreover,  I  did  most  fully  expect 
that,  when  it  was  known  that  he  was  decidedly  re- 
solved to  maintain  his  ground,  the  opposition  would 
give  way,  for  I  could  not  believe  that  they  were 
prepared  to  perpetrate  deliberate  murder. 

I  know  it  is  very  easy  for  those  not  on  the  spot, 
and  ignorant  of  the  state  of  moral  causes  in  the 
community,  to  lay  down  the  dictates  of  prudence — 
in  view  of  results.  This  is  a  cheap  wisdom  and 
easily  gained.  But  let  any  one  consider  our  cir 
cumstances,  and  say  what  better  could  have  been 
done.  It  was  not  a  question  of  self-will,  but  of 
principle.  We  felt  for  the  freedom  of  the  press  and 


ALTON    RIOTS.  69 

for  the  welfare  of  Alton.  Alton  had  always  stood 
high  in  my  feelings  and  in  my  judgment.  Nor 
could  I  make  it  seem  a  reality  to  my  mind  that  a 
place  so  honored  and  so  loved  could  not  be  redeem- 
ed from  so  deep  and  deadly  disgrace  as  already 
rested  on  her.  Her  relations  to  the  cause  of  God ; 
her  noble  exertions  in  behalf  of  literature,  religion 
and  morality;  her  influence  on  the  destinies  of  our 
youthful  state;  rose  before  my  mind,  and  I  could 
not  bear  the  thought  that  a  place  around  which  so 
many  fond  remembrances  of  the  past  and  so  many 
future  hopes  were  entwined,  should  be  abandoned 
to  an  infuriate  mob  as  past  recovery.  And  we 
felt  called  on  to  plead  with  God,  for  the»sake  of  his 
own  glory,  to  interpose;  to  bring  the  wickedness  . 
of  the  wicked  to  an  end,  and  to  establish  the 
righteousness  of  the  just. 


CHAPTER  XL 

.  I  HAD  meditated  with  much  anxiety  on  the  course 
of  thought  best  adapted  to  induce  the  assembly  to 
resolve  to  maintain  the  laws.  But  on  arriving  at 
the  meeting  I  was  soon  relieved  from  this  respon- 
sibility. Though  I  was  requested  to  attend  the 
first  meeting  and  offer  the  resolutions  on  which  the 
report  was  now  to  be  made:  and  though,  in  com- 
mon with  every  subject  of  our  free  government, 
my  dearest  interests  were  involved  in  the  decision, 


70  ALTON    RIOTS. 

yet  by  the  first  vote  I  was  precluded  alike  from 
voting  and  debate.  I  sat  down  in  silent  sadness 
to  await  the  result. 

After  the  meeting  was  opened  the  chairman  of 
the  committee  made  the  following  report. 

"  The  committee  appointed  to  take  under  consider- 
ation certain  resolutions  submitted  at  our  last  meet- 
ing, beg  leave  to  report: —  That  they  have  given  to 
those  resolutions  a  deliberate  and  candid  examina- 
tion, and  are  constrained  to  say  that,  however  they 
may  approve  their  general  spirit,  they  do  not  con- 
sider them,  as  a  whole,  suited  to  the  exigency 
which  has  called  together  the  citizens  of  Alton.  It 
is  notorious,  that  fearful  excitements  have  grown 
out  of  collisions  of  sentiment  between  two  great 
parties  on  the  subject,  and  that  these  excitements 
have  led  to  excesses  on  both  sides  deeply  to  be  de- 
plored. Too  much  of  crimination  and  recrimina- 
tion have  been  indulged.  On  the  one  hand,  the 
anti-abolitionists  have  been  charged  with  a  heart- 
less cruelty,  a  reckless  disregard  of  the  rights  of 
man,  and  an  insidious  design,  under  deceptive  pre- 
texts, to  perpetuate  the  foul  stain  of  slavery.  They 
have  been  loaded  with  many  and  most  opprobrious 
epithets,  such  as  pirates,  man-stealers,  &c.  &c.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  abolitionists  have  been  too  in- 
discriminately denounced  as  violent  disturbers  of 
the  good  order  of  society,  wilfully  incendiary  and 
disorganizing  in  their  spirit,  wickedly  prompting 
servile  insurrections,  and  traitorously  encouraging 
infractions  of  the  constitution,  tending  to  disunion, 
violence,  and  bloodshed.  These  uncharitable  im. 


ALTON    RIOTS.  71 

peachments  of  motives  have  led  to  an  appalling  cri- 
sis, demanding  of  every  good  citizen  the  exertion 
of  his  utmost  influence  to  arrest  all  acts  of  violence, 
and  to  restore  harmony  to  our  once  peaceful  and 
prosperous,  but  now  distracted  city.  It  is  not  to  be 
disguised,  that  parties  are  now  organizing  and  arm- 
ing for  a  conflict,  which  may  terminate  in  a  train  of 
mournful  consequences.  Under  such  circumstances 
have  we  been  convened.  And  your  committee  are 
satisfied  that  nothing  short  of  a  generous  forbearance, 
a  mild  spirit  of  conciliation,  and  a  yielding  compro- 
mise of  conflicting  claims,  can  compose  the  elements 
of  discord,  and  restore  quiet  to  this  agitated  com- 
munity. They  are  therefore  forced  to  regard  the  re- 
solutions under  consideration,  as  falling  short  of  the 
great  end  in  view — as  demanding  too  much  of  con- 
cession on  one  side  and  too  little  on  the  other. — 
Neither  party  can  be  expected  to  yield  every  thing, 
and  to  acknowledge  themselves  exclusively  in  the 
wrong.  In  this  there  is  no  compromise.  There 
must  be  a  mutual  sacrifice  of  prejudices,  opinions  and 
interests  to  accomplish  the  desired  reconciliation — 
such  a  sacrifice  as  led  to  the  adoption  of  the  great 
charter  of  American  freedom,  which  has  secured  to 
ourselves,  and  which  promises  a  continuance  to  our 
posterity,  of  the  blessed  fruits  of  peace,  prosperity, 
and  union.  Whilst,  therefore,  we  fully  and  freely 
recognize  the  justness  of  the  principles  engrafted 
upon  our  constitution,  that  the  free  communication 
of  thoughts  and  opinions  is  one  of  the  invaluable 
rights  of  man,  and  that  every  citizen  may  freely 
speak,  write  and  print  on  any  subject,  being  respon- 


72  ALTON  RIOTS. 

sible  for  the  abuse  of  that  liberty;  that  the  abuse  of 
this  right  is  the  only  legal  ground  for  restraining  its 
use ;  that  the  question  of  abuse  must  be  decided 
solely  by  a  regular  civil  court,  and  in  accordance 
with  the  law,  and  not  by  an  irresponsible  and  unor- 
ganized portion  of  the  community,  be  it  great  or 
small — your  committee  would,  with  earnest  impor- 
tunity, urge  as  a  means  of  allaying  the  acrimony  of 
party  strife,  the  unanimous  adoption  of  the  follow- 
ing preamble  and  resolutions: 

"  Whereas,  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that 
peace,  order,  and  a  due  regard  to  law,  should  be 
restored  to  our  distracted  community;  and  whereas, 
in  all  cases  of  conflicting  opinions  about  rights  and 
privileges,  each  party  should  yield  some  things  in 
the  spirit  and  form  of  compromise :  Therefore 

"  Resolved,  1.  That  a  strong  confidence  is  enter- 
tained that  our  citizens  will  abstain  from  all  undue 
excitements,  discountenance  every  act  of  violence  to 
person  or  property,  and  cherish  a  sacred  regard  for 
the  great  principles  contained  in  our  Bill  of  Rights. 

"  2.  That  it  is  apparent  to  all  good  citizens,  that 
the  exigencies  of  the  place  require  a  course  of  mod- 
eration in  relation  to  the  discussion  of  principles  in 
themselves  deemed  right,  and  of  the  highest  impor- 
tance ;  and  that  it  is  no  less  a  dictate  of  duty  than 
expediency,  to  adopt  such  a  course  in  the  present 
crisis. 

"  3.  That  so  far  as  your  committee  have  possessed 
the  means  of  ascertaining  the  sense  of  this  commu- 
nity, in  relation  to  the  establishment  of  a  religious 
newspaper,  such  a  course  would,  at  a  suitable  time, 


ALTON    RIOTS.  73 

and  under  the  influence  of  judicious  proprietors  and 
editors,  contribute  to  the  cause  of  religion  and  good 
citizenship,  and  promote  the  prosperity  of  the  city 
and  country. 

"4.  That  while  there  appears  to  be  no  dispo- 
sition to  prevent  the  liberty  of  free  discussion, 
through  the  medium  of  the  press  or  otherwise,  as  a 
general  thing,  it  is  deemed  a  matter  indispensable 
to  the  peace  and  harmony  of  this  community, 
that  the  labors  and  influence  of  the  late  editor  of 
the  Observer  be  no  longer  identified  with  any  news- 
paper establishment  in  this  city. 

« 5.  That  whereas  it  has  come  to  the  knowledge 
of  your  committee,  that  the  late  editor  of  the  Ob- 
server has  voluntarily  proposed  to  the  proprietors 
and  stockholders  of  the  Alton  Observer,  to  relin- 
quish his  interest  and  connection  with  that  paper, 
if,  in  the  opinion  of  his  friends,  that  course  were 
expedient — your  committee  consider  that  such  a 
course  would  highly  contribute  to  the  peace  and 
harmony  of  the  place,  and  indicate  on  the  part  of 
the  friends  of  the  Observer  a  disposition  to  do  all 
in  their  power  to  restore  the  city  to  its  accustomed 
harmony  and  quiet. 

"  6.  That  we  would  not  be  understood  as  reflect- 
ing in  the  slightest  degree  upon  the  private  charac- 
ter or  motives  of  the  late  editor  of  the  Alton  Ob- 
server, by  any  thing  contained  in  the  foregoing  re- 
solutions." 

Probably  a  report  was  never  made  in  circum- 
stances  of  greater  interest,  or   on   principles  of 
G 


74  ALTON   RIOTS. 

higher  moment:  and  as  it  was  evidently  drawn  up 
after  much  deliberation  it  merits  a  careful  scrutiny. 

The  great  object  of  the  resolutions  on  which  the 
report  was  based  was,  to  secure  the  defense  of  a  cit- 
izen in  the  exercise  of  his  inalienable  rights  against 
the  violence  of  a  mob.  "  As  a  whole"  they  con- 
sisted of  two  parts  :  a  statement  of  principles;  and 
a  resolution  to  act  according  to  them.  To  these  it 
seems  the  committee  gave  a  "deliberate  and  candid 
examination;"  and  what  is  the  result  ?  They  ap- 
prove their  general  spirit,  but  do  not  consider  them 
as  a  whole  suited  to  the  exigency  which  had  called 
them  together.  «  The  justice  of  the  principles  of 
the  first  three  resolutions  they  fully  and  freely  re- 
cognize;" of  course  the  only  thing  to  which  they 
object  is,  the  rest  of  the  resolutions — designed  to 
put  them  in  practice. 

The 'committee  then  admit  that  Mr.  Lovejoy  has 
the  right  to  print  what  he  pleases;  and  to  be  depriv- 
ed of  this  right  only  for  abusing  it;  and  that  the 
question  of  abuse  is  to  be  settled  by  law,  and  not 
by  a  mob.  They  fully  and  freely  recognize  the 
justice  of  these  principles.  Then  why  not  recom- 
mend that  they  be  enforced  ?  Why  not  speak  out 
in  tones  of  manly  indignation,  and  rebuke  the  vio- 
lators of  law,  and  call  on  all  who  love  their  country 
to  rally  to  its  defense  ?  If  the  first  three  resolutions 
are  true,  why  are  not  the  last  six  suited  to  the  exi- 
gency ?  Are  they  false  ?  Do  the  committee  mean 
to  say  that,  in  opposing  erroneous  views,  such  as 
the  law  will  not  reach,  we  are  not  to  depend  solely 
on  argument  and  moral  means  aided  by  the  Spirit 


ALTON    RIOTS.  75 

of  God  ?  and  that  these  means  are  not  an  ample 
defense  against  error  arid  excitement  ?  Do  they 
hold  that,  in  addition  to  these,  mobs  are  sometimes 
needed  ?  Do  they  believe  that  when  discussion  is 
free  and  proper  means  are  used  the  triumph  of  the 
truth  is  not  certain  ?  and  that  the  triumph  of  the 
truth  will  not  produce  peace  ?  And  do  they  mean  to 
say  that  all  attempts  to  check  discussion  will  not 
produce  excitement  ?  And  do  they  mean  to  advocate 
and  justify  the  suppression  of  discussion  by  force  ? 
Do  they  believe  that  we  ought  not  to  maintain  these 
principles  without  respect  to  parties  or  persons  ? 
Do  they  mean  that  the  right  of  speech  is  to  be  pro- 
tected only  in  the  case  of  popular  opinions,  where 
it  needs  no  protection,  and  to  be  left  defenseless  in 
case  of  unpopular  opinions,  where  protection  is 
needed  ?  Did  they  niean  to  say  to  the  citizens  of 
Alton,  You  are  under  no  obligation  to  defend  Mr. 
Lovejoy  or  his  paper  on '  the  ground  of  principle, 
and  that  a  sacred  regard  to  the  principles  of  society 
do  not  require  it  ?  Are  the  committee  willing  be- 
fore the  civilized  world  to  avow  sentiments  like 
these  ?  If  not:  if  the  resolutions  are  true,  why  not 
recommend  them  ? 

But  we  are  told  they  are  not  adapted  to  the 
emergency  which  had  called  them  together.  And 
what  is  this  emergency  ?  A  mob  had  attempted  to 
silence  a  press,  and  expel  an  editor  from  Alton. 
The  resolutions  recommended  'that  this  attempt 
should  be  resisted  and  the  liberty  of  the  press  main- 
tained; and  gave  reasons  for  so  doing.  Now,  why 
are  not  these  resolutions  adapted  to  the  emergency  ? 


• 
76  ALTON   RIOTS. 

Is  it  possible  that  the  committee  did  not  see  what 
must  be  the  influence  of  such  a  report  on  the  mob  ? 
We  approve  of  the  principles  of  the  laws,  but  a  res- 
olution to  maintain  them  is  not  adapted  to  the  pres- 
ent crisis  !  Is  it  possible  that  they  did  not  see  that 
if  they  had  proposed  a  resolution  to  violate  them, 
its  influence  could  not  have  been  more  deadly  ? 

The  reasons  assigned  for  refusing  to  recommend 
the  resolutions  are  truly  surprising.  They  are  in 
brief  that  two  parties  were  now  organizing  for  a 
conflict,  which  may  terminate  in  a  train  of  mourn- 
ful consequences  unless  some  compromise  is  made. 

It  is  indeed  true  that  two  parties  did  exist  as  it 
regards  the  truth  or  falsehood  of  the  opinions  of 
the  abolitionists;  and  as  it  regards  the  expediency 
of  forming  a  state  society;  and  as  it  regards  the 
time  and  mode  of  carrying  on  the  discussions.  But 
on  these  points  the  abolitionists  had  never  refused 
to  compromise.  They  had  offered  to  do  all  in  their 
power  to  unite  good  men  and  avert  division ;  and 
all  their  efforts  had  been  vain;  and  a  plan  was 
adopted  to  vote  down  all  discussion.  It  was  not 
moderate  discussion  which  their  opponents  demand- 
ed, but  no  discussion.  Not  that  Mr.  Lovejoy  should 
print  his  opinions  moderately  but  that  he  should  not 
print  them  at  all. 

Now,  at  the  moment  this  claim  was  made,  it 
ceased  to  be  a  party  question.  It  assumed  a  new 
ground  and  changed  its  nature  entirely.  It  was 
now  the  question,  Shall  a  citizen,  guilty  of 
no  crime  and  without  judicial  process,  be  stripped 
of  all  his  rights:?  And  whoever  undertakes  to  da 


ALTON    RIOTS.  77 

this  is  no  longer  a  party  but  a  mob.  And  this  was 
the  precise  attitude  of  affairs  at  this  time.  Jt  was 
not  a  question  between  abolitionists  and  anti-aboli- 
tionists; but  between  the  friends  of  law  and  a  mob; 
and  are  these  the  parties  intended  by  the  com- 
mittee? 

The  committee  further  say  that  excitements  be- 
tween these  parties  have  led  to  excesses  on  both 
sides,  deeply  to  be  deplored.  Is  it  so?  Of  the  mob 
the  assertion  is  true.  But  what. had  the  friends  of 
law  and  order  done?  Nothing  but  strive  to  sus- 
tain the  law.  And  is  this  an  excess  deeply  to  be 
deplored  ? 

Again,  they  say,  too  much  crimination  and  re- 
crimination have  been  indulged :  and  specify 
charges  mutually  made  by  the  parties.  That  the 
abolitionists  have  thus  been  charged  is  true.  I  heard 
these  and  numerous  other  false  charges  publicly 
made  against  them  in  Alton.  But  abolitionists  did 
not  render  railing  for  railing.  Nothing  of  the 
kind  specified  was  said  'or  hinted  at  in  the  conven- 
tion. Nor  did  Mr.  Lovejoy  or  his  friends  ever  load 
their  opponents  with  opprobrious  epithets,  as  pirates, 
manstealers,  &c.  Indeed  he  was  always  very  cau- 
tious not  to  use  such  language:  and  so  far  as  I 
know,  all  the  proceedings  of  the  abolitionists  at  Al- 
ton were,  at  all  times,  gentlemanly  and  decorous. 

The  simple  fact  is,  and  no  sophistry  can  hide  it, 
that  Mr.  Lovejoy's  rights,  and  .those  of  all  his  sub- 
scribers had  been  assailed  by  a  mob:  and  nothing 
was  needed  to  restore  quiet  but  that  the  mob  should 
let  them  alone.  But  the  mob  would  not;  and  for 
o  2 


78  ALTON  RIOTS. 

this  reason  the  friends  of  law  armed  themselves  to 
repel  illegal  violence. 

The  recommendation  of  the  committee  instead 
of  the  resolution  to  support  the  laws  is  no  less  sur- 
prising. What  is  it?  A  compromise!  And  no  less 
surprising  are  the  reasons  for  this  recommendation. 
That  neither  party  can  be  expected  to  yield  every 
thing,  and  own  itself  entirely  in  the  wrong. 

Now,  for  what  were  the  friends  of  law  arming? 
To  assail  any  one?  To  prostrate  and  destroy  a 
press?  No.  To  endanger  the  community?  No. 
For  what  then?  To  defend  an  innocent  fellow 
citizen's  property  and  life,  if  assailed.  Is  there  any 
thing  so  alarming  in  all  this?  What  else  ought  a 
good  citizen  to  do?  Is  there  any  thing  to  be  con- 
ceded here? 

For  what  were  the  mob  arming  ?  To  break 
open  a  store,  and  destroy  a  press,  and  to  fire  the 
store  and  kill  its  defenders  if  resistance  was  made ! 
Ought  not  all  this  to  be  conceded  by  the  mob? 

Now,  do  the  committee  think,  that  to  require  of 
them  to  abstain  from  such  atrocious  deeds,  and  to 
observe  the  laws,  and  to  call  on  all  good  citizens  to 
aid  in  defeating  them  if  they  attempted  to  execute 
their  nefarious  plans  "  falls  short  of  the  great  end 
in  view"  and  "demands  too  much  of  concession;" 
and  that  "  neither  party  can  be  expected  to  yield 
every  thing,  and  to  acknowledge  themselves  ex- 
clusively in  the  wrong  ?" 

Is  it  not  then  true,  that  the  violator  of  law,  who 
breaks  open  a  house  and  destroys  the  property  or 
life  of  his  neighbor  is  exclusively  in  the  wrong  ? 


ALTON   RIOTS.  79 

And  if  so,  is  it  requiring  too  much  to  call  on  him  to 
acknowledge  the  truth  ?  And  is  it  too  great  a  con- 
cession for  a  thief  to  stop  stealing;  or  for  any  other 
miscreant  to  stop  committing  burglary,  arson  or  mur- 
der ?  The  resolutions  demanded  nothing  else;  and 
do  the  committee  think  this  too  much  ? 

Nor  can  I  understand  what  the  committee  mean 
by  a  "  mutual  sacrifice  of  prejudices,  opinions  and 
interests,"  such  "  as  led  to  the  adoption  of  the  great 
charter  of  American  freedom."  The  parties  in  this 
case  are,  on  the  one  hand  the  friends  of  law ;  on  the 
other,  the  mob.  Between  these  it  seems  a  compro- 
mise is  to  be  effected  like  that  which  produced  our 
national  union.  But  how  is  this  possible  ?  The 
great  question  on  which  compromise  was  needed 
came  up  between  the  free  and  the  slave  states. 
Which  are  to  be  represented  by  the  mob,  and  which 
by  the  friends  of  law  ?  And  what  similarity  is 
there  in  the  cases  ?  It  was  in  one  case  a  union  be- 
tween equal  and  independent  states,  none  of  whom 
had  any  power  over  the  other,  and  yet  the  union 
was  essential  for  mutual  defense.  Hence,  rather 
than  not  unite,  they  let  evils  remain  to  remove 
which  they  had  no  power.  Is  this  a  reason  why  a 
community  should  concede  impunity  to  their  own 
citizens,  over  whom  they  have  power  when  they 
violate  the  laws  ? 

But  omitting  these  considerations,  what  is  the 
compromise  recommended  by  the  committee  ?  The 
friends  of  law  were  contending  for  nothing  but  a 
principle  of  infinite  moment;  and  on  the  other  hand 
the  mob  were  aiming  to  overthrow  it.  And  how 


80  ALTON    RIOTS. 

is  this  matter  to  be  compromised  ?  Why,  the  prin- 
ciple is  to  be  given  up  and  the  mob  are  to  carry 
the  day !  It  is  essential,  they  say,  to  the  peace  of 
Alton  that  Mr.  Lovejoy  no  longer  edit  a  paper 
there.  And  is  this  a  compromise  ?  What  more 
had  the  mob  ever  asked  than  this  ?  For  what  else 
had  they  abused  the  person  and  destroyed  the 
presses  of  Mr.  Lovejoy  ?  Was  it  not  to  compel  him 
to  cease  publishing  a  paper  in  Alton  ?  Was  it  not 
for  this  they  had  broken  open  and  ravaged  his  of- 
fice and  destroyed  press  after  press  ?  Yet  to  this 
worthy  party  all  that  they  ask  is  to  be  granted,  and 
to  the  friends  of  law  and  order,  nothing.  Is  this  a 
compromise  ?  But  it  may  be  said,  that,  if  the 
friends  of  Mr.  Lovejoy  had  been  willing  to  give 
him  up,  the  citizens  of  Alton  would  have  allowed 
them  to  have  a  religious  paper  at  a  suitable  time, 
and  under  judicious  editors  and  proprietors.  But 
it  was  not  for  this  they  asked.  They  had  a  right  to 
have  it  without  any  such  leave.  All  that  they  ask- 
ed for  was  the  maintenance  of  the  principle,  that  no 
editor  shall  be  silenced  by  a  mob  r  and  in  losing  this 
they  lost  all.  And  in  giving  up  this  point  to  the 
mob,  the  committee  gave  them  all. 

And  are  we  to  suppose  that  the  committee  saw 
the  full  range  of  the  tremendous  principles  here  laid 
down ;  or  did  some  strange  fatality  blind  their  eyes  ?• 
Judging  from  their  own  report  they  were  utterly 
unconscious  of  what  they  had  done ;  for  they  say, 

"  That  a  strong  confidence  is  entertained  that  our 
citizens  will  abstain  from  all  undue  excitements, 
discountenance  every  act  of  violence  to  person  or 


ALTON    RIOTS.  81 

property,  and  cherish  a  sacred  regard  for  the  great 
principles  contained  in  our  Bill  of  Rights." 

That  they  had  such  a  strong  confidence  it  does 
not  become  me  to  deny.  But  I  may  well  ask,  Had 
they  any  reason  to  expect  such  a  result  from  any 
thing  which  they  had  done  ?  What  had  they  done  ? 
They  had  refused  to  recommend  the  maintenance 
of  law ;  had  yielded  to  every  demand  of  the  mob, 
and  had  thrown  the  whole  of  their  influence  against 
those  who  were  struggling  to  resist  them: — and 
then  confidently  hope  for  good  order  and  peace! 
As  well  might  they  have  bid  the  incendiary  fire  a 
city  whilst  the  winds  raged  high  and  then  expressed 
the  confident  hope  that  all  its  inhabitants  would 
enjoy  uninterrupted  and  tranquil  repose.  And  as 
they  sowed  so  did  they  reap.  Let  him  who  looks 
for  evidence  read  the  records  of  the  following 
tuesday  night ;  and  in  the  outrages  of  a  drunken 
and  infuriated  mob,  and  in  scenes  of  ARSON  and 
MURDER  he  will  find  horrid  and  heart  sickening 
proof. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  these  resolutions  are  not 
designed  to  tell  Mr.  Lovejoy  what  as  a  Christian 
he  ought  to  do:  nor  to  express  an  opinion  that  he 
ought  for  the  sake  of  the  peace  of  Alton  to  give  way 
to  the  mob.  They  had  a  right  to  express  such  an 
opinion  if  they  thought  so.  But  Mr.  Lovejoy  was 
still  to  be  his  own  judge;  and  if  he  conscientiously 
decided  not  to  go  they  were  bound  to  defend  him. 
But  the  resolutions  were  not  addressed  to  him. 
They  were  addressed  to  citizens  of  Alton,  and  de- 
signed to  mark  out  a  course  for  them  to  pursue. 


82  ALTON   RIOTS. 

Had  it  been  their  intention  only  to  inform  Mr.  Love- 
joy  that  as  a  Christian  he  ought  to  give  up  his 
paper,  and  that  his  friends  ought  to  consent;  and 
that  still,  if  they  thought  otherwise  they  would  pro- 
tect him;  they  ought  first  of  all  to  have  passed  a 
resolution  assuring  him  of  unconditional  protection; 
and  then  to  request  him  as  a  Christian  to  retire. 

But  this  they  refused  to  do.  The  vote  to  protect 
him  they  could  not  recommend;  and  they  did  say 
that  it  was  essential  to  the  peace  of  Alton  that  he 
should  not  edit  a  paper  there.  And  this  they  said, 
not  to  him,  but  to  the  citizens  of  Alton. 

I  do  not  think  that  the  main  body  of  the  com- 
mittee had  any  idea  of  the  bearings  of  what  they 
•were  to  recommend.  The  fatal  step  that  misled 
them  was  consenting  for  a  moment  to  put  the 
friends  of  law  on  a  level  with  the  mob ;  and  then  to 
try  to  effect  a  compromise  between  them.  From 
men  so  intelligent,  who  could  have  expected  a  mis- 
take so  fatal  ?  In  so  plain  a  case  as  an  attack  of 
ruffians  and  robbers  on  an  unoffending  citizen,  and 
through  him  on  law  and  civil  society  itself  it  did 
seem  to  us  that  they  would  see,  that  the  welfare  of 
the  whole  country,  nay  of  the  civilized  world,  re- 
quired every  good  citizen  to  refuse  to  look  at  them  in 
any  other  light  than  as  parricides  of  their  country; 
and  not  to  degrade  those  who  still  revered  the  laws, 
even  by  insinuating  that  they  were  only  a  party  on 
a  level  with  a  mob.  Nor  could  we  conceive  what 
could  be  imagined  or  thought  of  in  the  way  of  com- 
promise. It  did  not  occur  to  us  that  so  intelligent  a 
committee  would  advance  so  gross  a  doctrine  as 


ALTON    RIOTS.  83 

that  a  community  has  a  right  to  absolve  itself 
from  the  performance  of  its  most  solemn  duties — 
and  call  this  a  compromise.  It  seemed  to  us  that 
the  debtor  might  as  well  refuse  to  pay  his  debts, 
and  call  this  a  compromise.  It  seemed  to  us  that 
protection  is  a  debt  due  from  community  to  every 
citizen;  and  that  he  has  an  undoubted  right  to 
claim  it;  and  that  it  is  more  grossly  absurd  and 
unjust  for  a  community  to  talk  of  compromising  it 
away  than  for  a  debtor  to  propose  to  compromise 
away  his  debts.  Still  less  did  we  imagine  that 
a  principle  so  flagrantly  immoral  would  be  dig- 
nified by  a  comparison  with  concessions  made  to 
each  other  by  equal  and  independent  states,  none 
of  whom  were  under  any  political  obligation  to 
come  into  union  with- the  rest: — That  the  glorious 
union  of  our  fathers  would  be  sunk  to  the  level  of 
a  union  between  the  supporters  and  the  violators  of 
the  law,  on  the  ground  that  the  supporters  of  the 
law  should  concede  to  its  violators  the  full  gratifica- 
tion of  their  wishes.  Yet  so  it  was. 

The  idea  that  the  supporters  of  Mr.  Lovejoy  were 
not  acting  as  abolitionists,  but  as  friends  of  law  and 
good  order,  and  that  a  large  portion  of  them  were 
not  abolitionists,  and  that  they  were  not  a  party,  but 
merely  friends  of  their  country  and  opponents  of 
mob  law,  does  not  seem  to  have  occurred  to  the 
committee  at  all. 


84  ALTON   RIOTS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

After  the  report  had  been  read  by  the  Honorable 
chairman,  one  of  the  committee  commented  on  it 
at  some  length:  and  seeming  to  assume  it  as  capa- 
ble of  no  doubt  that  Mr.  Lovejoy's  friends  must 
see  the  reasonableness  of  so  generous  a  compro- 
mise, and  its  eminent  adaptedness  to  promote  the 
public  peace;  proceeded  in  a  compassionate  strain 
to  express  his  sympathy  for  the  unhappy  man  whose 
rights  were  to  be  sacrificed  as  a  peace  offering  on 
the  altar  of  the  demon  of  anarchy.  He  regarded 
him  as  an  unfortunate  man,  whose  hand  was 
against  every  man  and  every  man's  hand  against 
him;  and  hoped  that  they  would  disgrace  him  as 
little  as  possible,  and  remember  that  he  had  a  wife 
and  family  dependent  upon  him  for  support.  He 
was  as  mild  and  calm  as  he  knew  how  to  be,  for 
he  seemed  to  think  it  was  appropriate  that  he 
should  be  so  whilst  thus  negociating  such  a  treaty 
of  peace. 

But  the  committee  were  not  unanimous  in  these 
proceedings.  There  was  one  honourable  exception, 
Mr.  Winthrop  S.  Oilman.  He  immediately  arose 
and  laid  in  a  decided  protest,  alleging  it  as  his 
opinion  "that  the  rigid  enforcement  of  the  law 
would  prove  the  only  sure  protection  of  the  rights 
of  citizens;  and  the  only  safe  remedy  for  similar 
excitements  in  future." 


ALTON    RIOTS.  85 

As  brother  Lovejoy  rose  to  reply  to  the  speech 
above  mentioned,  I  watched  his  countenance  with 
deep  interest,  not  to  say  anxiety.  I  saw  no  tokens 
of  disturbance.  With  a  tranquil,  self  possessed  air, 
he  went  up  to  the  bar  within  which  the  chairman 
sat,  and  in  a  tone  of  deep,  tender  and  subdued  feel- 
ing, spoke  as  follows:  * 

"  I  feel,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  this  is  the  most 
solemn  moment  of  my  life.  I  feel,  I  trust,  in  some 
measure  the  responsibilities  which  at  this  hour  I 
sustain  to  these,  my  fellow  citizens,  to  the  church 
of  which  I  am  a  minister,  to  my  country,  and  to 
God.  And  let  me  beg  of  you  before  I  proceed  fur- 
ther to  construe  nothing  I  shall  say  as  being  disre- 
spectful to  this  assembly.  I  have  no  such  feeling: 
far  from  it.  And  if  I  do  not  act  or  speak  according 
to  their  wishes  at  all  times,  it  is  because  I  cannot 
conscientiously  do  it. 

"  It  is  proper  I  should  state  the  whole  matter  as  1 
understand  it  before  this  audience.  I  do  not  stand 
here  to  argue  the  question  as  presented  by  the  re- 
port of  the  committee.  My  only  wonder  is  that 
the  Hon.  gentlemant  the  chairman  of  that  commit- 
tee, for  whose  character  I  entertain  great  respect, 
though  I  have  not  the  pleasure  of  his  person- 
al acquaintance,  my  only  wonder  is  how  that  gen- 
tleman could  have  brought  himself  to  submit  such 
a  report. 

*  At  my  request  immediately  after  the  meeting  he  wrote  down  all 
that  he  could  recall  of  his  speech,  which  was  extempore, ;  I  from  mem- 
ory added  the  rest. 

•f  Hon.  Cyrus  Edwards,  senator  from  Madison  county  and  the  whig 
candidate  for  governor. 

H 


86  ALTON  RIOTS. 

"Mr.  Chairman,  I  do  not  admit  that  it  is  the  busi- 
ness of  tliis  assembly  to  decide  whether  I  shall  or 
shall  not  publish  a  newspaper  in  this  city.  The 
gentlemen  have,  as  the  lawyers  say,  made  a  wrong 
issue.  I  have  the  right  to  do  it.  I  know  that  I 
have  the  right  freely  to  speak  and  publish  my  sen- 
timents, subject  only  to  the  laws  of  the  land  for  the 
abuse  of  that  right.  This  right  was  given  me  by  my 
Maker;  and  is  solemnly  guarantied  to  me  by  the 
constitution  of  these  United  States  and  of  this  state. 
What  I  wish  to  know  of  you  is  whether  you  will 
protect  me  in  the  exercise  of  this  right;  or  whether, 
as  heretofore,  I  am  to  be  subjected  to  personal  in- 
dignity and  outrage.  These  resolutions,  and  the 
measures  proposed  by  them  are  spoken  of  as  a  com- 
promise— a  compromise  between  two  parties.  Mr. 
Chairman,  this  is  not  so.  There  is  but  one  party 
here.  It  is  simply  a  question  whether  the  law 
shall  be  enforced,  or  whether  the  mob  shall  be 
allowed,  as  they  now  do,  to  continue  to  trample  it 
under  their  feet,  by  violating  with  impunity  the 
rights  of  an  innocent  individual. 

"  Mr.  Chairman,  what  have  I  to  compromise  ?  If 
freely  to  forgive  those  who  have  so  greatly  injured 
me,  if  to  pray  for  their  temporal  and  eternal  happi- 
ness, if  still  to  wish  for  the  prosperity  of  your  city 
and  state,  notwithstanding  all  the  indignities  I  have 
suffered  in  it;  if  this  be  the  compromise  intended, 
then  do  I  willingly  make  it.  My  rights  have  been 
shamefully,  wickedly  outraged;  this  I  know,  and 
feel,  and  can  never  forget.  But  I  can  and  do  free- 
ly forgive  those  who  have  done  it. 


ALTON  RIOTS.  87 

«  But  if  by  a  compromise  is  meant  that  I  should 
cease  from  doing  that  which  duty  requires  of  me,  I 
cannot  make  it.  And  the  reason  is,  that  I  fear  God 
more  than  I  fear  man.  Think  not  that  I  would 
lightly  go  contrary  to  public  sentiment  around  me. 
The  good  opinion  of  my  fellow  men  is  dear  to  me, 
and  I  would  sacrifice  any  thing  but  principle  to  ob- 
tain their  good  wishes;  but  when  they  ask  me  to 
surrender  this,  they  ask  for  more  than  I  can — than 
I  dare  give.  Reference  is  made  to  the  fact  that  I 
offered  a  few  days  since  to  give  up  the  editorship 
of  the  "  Observer,"  into  other  hands.  This  is  true, 
I  did  so,  because  it  was  thought  or  said  by  some 
that  perhaps  the  paper  would  be  better  patronised 
in  other  hands.  They  declined  accepting  my  offer, 
however,  and  since  then  we  have  heard  from  the 
friends  and  supporters  of  the  paper  in  all  parts  of 
the  state.  There  was  but  one  sentiment  among 
them.  And  this  was  that  the  paper  could  be  sus- 
tained in  no  other  hands  than  mine.  It  is  also  a  very 
different  question,  whether  I  shall  voluntarily,  or  at 
the  request  of  friends,  yield  up  my  post;  or  wheth- 
er 1  shall  forsake  it  at  the  demand  of  a  mob.  The 
former  I  am  at  all  times  ready  to  do,  when  circum- 
stances occur  to  require  it,  as  I  will  never  put  my 
personal  wishes  or  interests  in  competition  with  the 
cause  of  that  Master  whose  minister  I  am.  But 
the  latter,  be  assured,  I  NEVER  will  do.  God,  in  his 
providence — so  say  all  my  brethren,  and  so  I  think — 
has  devolved  upon  me  the  responsibility  of  main- 
taining my  ground  here ;  and,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  am 
determined  to  do  it.  A  voice  comes  to  me  from 


gg  ALTON    RIOTS. 

Maine,  from  Massachusetts,  from  Connecticut,  from 
;New-York,  from  Pennsylvania;  yea  from  Kentucky, 
from  Mississippi,  from  Missouri;  calling  upon  me  in 
the  name  of  all  that  is  dear  in  heaven  or  earth,  to 
stand  fast;  and  by  the  help  of  God,  I  WILL  STAND. 
I  know  1  am  but  one  and  you  are  many.  My 
strength  would  avail  but  little  against  you  all.  You 
can  crush  me  if  you  will;  but  I  shall  die  at  my  post, 
for  I  cannot  and  will  not  forsake  it. 

"Why  should  I  flee  from  Alton  ?  .Is  not  this  a 
free  state  ?  When  assailed  by  a  mob  at  St.  Louis, 
I  came  hither,  as  to  the  home  of  freedom  and  of 
the  laws.  The  mob  has  pursued  me  here,  and  why 
should  I  retreat  again  ?  Where  can  I  be  safe  if  not 
here  ?  Have  not  I  a  right  to  claim  the  protection 
of  the  laws  ?  What  more  can  I  have  in  any  other 
place  ?  Sir,  the  very  act  of  retreating  will  embol- 
den the  mob  to  follow  me  wherever  I  go.  No,  sir; 
there  is  no  way  to  escape  the  mob,  but  to  abandon 
the  path  of  duty;  and  that,  God  helping  me,  I  will 
never  do. 

"  It  has  been  said  here,  that  my  hand  is  against 
every  man,  and  every  man's  hand  against  me.  The 
last  part  of  the  declaration  is  too  painfully  true.  I 
do  indeed  find  almost  every  hand  lifted  against  me; 
but  against  whom  in  this  place  has  my  hand  been 
raised  ?  I  appeal  to  every  individual  present;  whom 
of  you  have  I  injured  ?  Whose  character  have  I 
traduced  ?  Whose  family  have  I  molested  ?  Whose 
business  have  I  meddled  with  ?  If  any,  let  him 
rise  here  and  testify  against  me. No  one  an- 
swers. 


ALTON  RIOTS.  89 

"  And  do  not  your  resolutions  say  that  you  find 
nothing  against  my  private  or  personal  character  ? 
And  does  any  one  believe  that  if  there  was  any 
thing  to  be  found,  it  would  not  be  found  and  brought 
forth  ?  If  in  any  thing  I  have  offended  against  the 
law,  I  am  not  so  popular  in  this  community  as  that 
it  would  be  difficult  to  convict  me.  You  have 
courts,  and  judges  and  juries;  they  find  nothing 
against  me.  And  now  you  come  together  for  the 
purpose  of  driving  out  a  confessedly  innocent  man, 
for  no  cause  but  that  he  dares  to  think  and  speak  as 
his  conscience  and  his  God  dictate.  Will  conduct 
like  this  stand  the  scrutiny  of  your  country  ?  of  pos- 
terity? above  all,  of  the  judgment-day?  For  re- 
member, the  Judge  of  that  day  is  no  respecter  of 
persons.  Pause,  I  beseech  you,  and  reflect.  The 
present  excitement  will  soon  be  over;  the  voice  of 
conscience  will  at  last  be  heard.  And  in  some  sea- 
son of  honest  thought,  even  in  this  world,  as  you 
review  the  scenes  of  this  hour,  you  will  be  com- 
pelled to  say,  "  He  was  right;  he  was  right." 

"  But  you  have  been  exhorted  to  be  lenient  and 
compassionate;  and  in  driving  me  away  to  affix  no 
unnecessary  disgrace  upon  me.  Sir,  I  reject  all  such 
compassion.  You  cannot  disgrace  me.  Scandal 
and  falsehood  and  calumny  have  already  done  their 
worst.  My  shoulders  have  borne  the  burthen  till  it 
sits  easy  upon  them.  You  may  hang  me  up,  as  the 
mob  hung  up  the  individuals  of  Vicksburgh  !  You 
may  burn  me  at  the  stake,  as  they  did  Mclntosh  at 
St.  Louis :  or,  you  may  tar  and  feather  me,  or 
throw  me  into  the  Mississippi,  as  you  have  often 
H  2 


90  ALTON   RIOTS. 

threatened  to  do;  but  you  cannot  disgrace  me.  I, 
and  I  alone,  can  disgrace  myself ;  and  the  deepest 
of  all  disgrace  would  be,  at  a  time  like  this,  to  deny 
my  Master  by  forsaking  his  cause.  He  died  for  me; 
and  I  were  most  unworthy  to  bear  his  name,  should 
I  refuse,  if  need  be,  to  die  for  him. 

"  Again,  you  have  been  told  that  I  have  a  family, 
who  are  dependent  on  me ;  and  this  has  been  given 
as  a  reason,  why  I  should  be  driven  off  as  gently  as 
possible.  It  is  true,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  am  a  husband 
and  a  father;  and  this  it  is,  that  adds  the  bitterest 
ingredient  to  the  cup  of  sorrow  I  am  called  to  drink. 
I  am  made  to  feel  the  wisdom  of  the  Apostle's  ad- 
vice :  "  It  is  better  not  to  marry."  I  know,  sir,  that 
in  this  contest  I  stake  not  my  life  only,  but  that  of 
others  also.  I  do  not  expect  my  wife  will  ever  re- 
cover the  shock  received  at  the  awful  scenes,  through 
which  she  was  called  to  pass,  at  St.  Charles.  And 
how  was  it  the  other  night,  on  my  return  to  my 
house  ?  I  found  her  driven  to  the  garret,  through 
fear  of  the  mob,  who  were  prowling  round  my 
house.  And  scarcely  had  I  entered  the  house  ere 
my  windows  were  broken  in  by  the  brickbats  of  the 
mob ;  and  she  so  alarmed,  that  it  was  impossible  for 
her  to  sleep  or  rest  that  night.  I  am  hunted  as  a 
partridge  upon  the  mountains.  I  am  pursued  as  a 
felon  through  your  streets;  and  to  the  guardian 
power  of  the  law  I  look  in  vain  for  that  protection 
against  violence,  which  even  the  vilest  criminal 
may  claim. 

"  Yet  think  not  that  I  am  unhappy.  Think  not 
that  I  regret  the  choice  that  I  have  made.  While 


ALTON  RIOTS.  91 

all  around  me  is  violence  and  tumult,  all  is  peace 
within.  An  approving  conscience,  and  the  reward- 
ing smile  of  God,  is  a  full  recompense  for  all  that  I 
forego  and  all  that  1  endure.  Yes,  sir,  I  enjoy  a 
peace  which  nothing  can  destroy.  I  sleep  sweetly 
and  undisturbed,  except  when  awaked  by  the  brick- 
bats of  the  mob. 

"  No,  sir,  I  am  not  unhappy.  I  have  counted  the 
cost,  and  stand  prepared  freely  to  offer  up  my  all  in 
the  service  of  God.  Yes,  sir,  I  am  fully  aware  of 
all  the  sacrifice  I  make,  in  here  pledging  myself  to 
continue  this  contest  to  the  last. — (Forgive  these 
tears — I  had  not  intended  to  shed  them — and  they 
flow  not  for  myself  but  others.) — But  I  am  com- 
manded to  forsake  father  and  mother  and  wife  and 
children  for  Jesus'  sake:  and  as  his  professed  dis- 
ciple I  stand  prepared  to  do  it.  The  time  for  ful- 
filling this  pledge  in  my  case,  it  seems  to  me,  has 
come.  Sir,  I  dare  not  flee  away  from  Alton.  Should 
I  attempt  it,  I  should  feel  that  the  angel  of  the  Lord 
with  his  flaming  sword  was  pursuing  me  wherever 
I  went.  It  is  because  I  fear  God  that  I  am  not 
afraid  of  all  who  oppose  me  in  this  city.  No,  sir, 
the  contest  has  commenced  here ;  and  here  it  must 
be  finished.  Before  God  and  you  all,  I  here  pledge 
myself  to  continue  it,  if  need  be,  till  death.  If  I 
fall,  my  grave  shall  be  made  in  Alton." 

I  have  been  affected  oftentimes  with  the  power 
of  intellect  and  eloquence ;  but  never  was  I  so  over- 
come as  at  this  hour.  He  made  no  display;  there 
was  no  rhetorical  decoration;  no  violence  of  action. 


92  ALTON   RIOTS. 

All  was  native  truth,  and  deep  pure  and  tender  feet- 
ing.  Many  a  hard  face  did  I  see  wet  with  tears,  as 
he  struck  the  chords  of  feeling  to  which  God  made 
the  soul  to  respond.  Even  his  bitter  enemies  wept. 
As  for  me  I  could  not  endure  it.  I  laid  down  my 
head  and  gave  way  to  my  feelings  without  control. 
When  he  had  closed  I  could  not  doubt  that  the  whole 
audience  was  convinced  that  he  was  right;  and  that, 
if  the  authors  of  the  report  would  have  said  so,  and 
exhorted  to  defend  him,  it  would  have  carried  the 
whole  audience  with  electric  power. 

But  no  !  their  whole  influence  was  again  to  be 
thrown  against  the  law  and  right  : — and  a  minister 
of  the  gospel  was  to  lead  the  way. 

As  the  reverend  gentleman  arose  to  reply,  it  seem- 
ed to  me  that  he  found  it  hard  to  rally  his  powers 
and  return  to  the  charge;  but  at  last  he  did;  and 
endeavored  to  bring  in  the  holy  word  of  God  to  aid 
in  such  a  cause. 

His  main  position  was,  that  all  things  that  were 
right  were  not,  of  course,  expedient;  which,  to  sub- 
serve his  purpose,  must  mean  that,  although  the 
principles  of  rectitude  require  a  community  to  de- 
fend its  members,  yet  it  is  not  always  expedient  so 
to  do.  Accordingly,  he  seemed  to  think  it  of  no  use 
to  contend  for  abstract  rights.  He  mentioned  the 
case  of  the  brethren  who  let  Paul  down  the  walls 
of  Damascus  in  a  basket  when  persecuted  by  the 
city  authorities  under  Aretas  a  Roman  officer,  as 
a  precedent  for  the  supporters  of  Mr.  Lovejoy  to 
follow  here.  As  though  he  considered  Alton  a 
heathen  city;  and  the  civil  authorities,  with  the 


ALTON    RIOTS.  93 

mayor  at  their  head,  backed  up  by  the  power  of  the 
Union,  were  the  persecutors.  Otherwise  the  case 
is  nothing  to  the  point.  He,  in  fact,  first  exhorted 
a  Christian  city  not  to  protect  Mr.  Lovejoy;  and 
then  exhorted  his  friends  on  this  precedent,  to  aid 
him  to  flee ;  because,  forsooth,  they  would  not  pro- 
tect him.  He  also  alluded  to  Mr.  Ldvejoy's  pledge: 
but  was  corrected  by  Rev.  F.  W.  Graves;  who  stated, 
without  contradiction,  that  Mr.  Lovejoy  expressly 
reserved  to  himself  the  right  to  say  what  he  should 
think  fit  on  the  subject.  Who  also  stated  the  change 
in  Mr.  Lovejoy's  opinions,  his  communication  to 
the  leading  friends  and  supporters  of  the  paper,  and 
their  advice  to  him  to  proceed  as  he  thought  best. 
He  also  stated  the  reasons  why  the  friends  of  the 
Observer  considered  it  a  duty  not  to  retreat,  and  re- 
ferred to  the  state  of  public  opinion  in  all  parts  of 
the  Union  as  sanctioning  their  course. 

A  member  of  the  committee  now  rose  and  deliv 
ered  a  speech  unequaled  by  any  thing  I  ever  heard 
for  an  excited,  bitter,  vindictive  spirit.  The  reason 
for  his  change  of  manner  seemed  to  lie  in  the  fact, 
that  although  he  and  his  friends  had  gone  so  far  in 
making  most  generous  compromises;  yet  Mr.  Love- 
joy  and  his  supporters  actually  refused  to  make  any 
at  all.  He  seemed  to  think  that  therefore  the  truce 
was  now  broken ;  and  that  he  was  authorized  to  come 
down  on  the  abolitionists  in  great  wrath,  which  he 
accordingly  did.  He  assailed  Mr.  Lovejoy's  char- 
acter and  motives,  and  those  of  his  friends,  in  a  style 
of  violent  invective,  such  as  I  had  never  heard  be- 
fore. He  seemed  desirous  of  lashing  the  assembly 


94  ALTON   RIOTS. 

into  instant  fury;  and  threatened  to  proclaim  hostil- 
ity against  the  abolitionists  in  all  the  intercourse  of 
social  life ;  and  to  sunder  all  the  ties  which  bound 
them  to  society.  He  endeavored  to  represent  the 
public  sentiment  in  the  nation  in  behalf  of  law  and 
order  as  expressed  by  the  press,  as  an  outrageous 
attempt  to  force  an  editor  on  them  whom  they  did 
not  like:  and  calledon  them  to  resist  the  usurpation. 
Finally,  he  withdrew  all  of  his  part  of  the  com- 
promise as  it  regards  a  paper,  and  offered  a  reso- 
lution not  only  that  the  Alton  Observer  should 
not  be  continued,  but  that  no  paper  of  like  spirit 
and  principles,  should  be  published  in  the  place. 
He  also  stated  in  this,  or  in  some  subsequent  speech, 
that  it  was  not  Mr.  Lovejoy  against  whom  they 
objected,  but  his  principles  :  and  that  if  any  man, 
even  Daniel  Webster,  Henry  Clay,  or  Andrew 
Jackson  should  come  there  to  discuss  them,  it  would 
make  no  difference. 

Of  the  truth  of  this  sentiment  there  can  be  no 
doubt.  I  had  long  been  convinced  of  it,  though 
I  did  not  expect  that  any  one  would  be  so  impoli- 
tic as  publicly  to  confess  it  before  the  world.  It 
deserves  the  candid  attention  of  certain  editors,  who 
would  fain  have  us  believe  that  had  it  not  been  for 
Mr.  Lovejoy's  imprudences,  he  might  have  printed 
what  he  would. 

The  chairman  of  the  committee  seemed  to  be 
somewhat  alarmed  at  the  violence  of  his  coadjutor, 
and  rose  to  remonstrate  against  the  passage  of  the 
resolution  and  the  intemperance  of  the  speaker.  He 
adverted  to  the  need  of  calmness  in  our  delibera- 


ALTON   RIOTS.  95 

tions,  and  to  the  disgrace  which  would  ensue, 
"should  the  meeting  break  up  in  a  row."  The 
motion  was  laid  on  the  table,  but  finally  adopted. 

Judge  Hawley,  who  followed,  took  true  and  hon- 
orable ground  on  the  subject  of  free  inquiry;  and 
as  a  false  impression  has  been  extensively  received 
on  the  subject,  it  ought  distinctly  to  be  stated  to  his 
credit,  that,  though  he  declared  his  disbelief  either 
of  the  truth  or  utility  of  the  sentiments  of  the  aboli- 
tionists; yet  he  maintained  that  they  ought  to  have 
the  rights  of  free  inquiry,  arid  of  publishing  what 
they  would.  He  said  he  should  not  care  if  they 
paved  the  streets  of  Alton  with  their  papers:  if  he 
did  not  believe  them  he  would  not  read  them:  and 
his  design  in  his  resolution  was  to  disapprove  of 
illegal  violence,  without  committing  himself  as  an 
abolitionist:  and  he  offered  it  as  a  substitute  for  the 
report  of  the  committee. 

The  discussion  then  became  general  and  desui- 
tory,  during  which  many  remarks  were  made 
severely  reflecting  on  Mr.  Lovejoy.  By  a  mem- 
ber of  the  committee — a  professor  of  religion  and 
an  eastern  man — he  was  compared  to  one  of  the 
deluded  votaries  of  the  impostor  Matthias,  who  was 
really  pious  but  led  away  by  enthusiastic  excite- 
ment. By  another  speaker  he  was  compared  to  an 
insane  person,  who  in  court  deemed  all  around  him 
insane  but  himself.  And  after  the  effects  of  Mr. 
Lovejoy 's  appeal  had  thus  been  obliterated;  and 
that  very  much  by  the  aid  of  professedly  pious  men; 
the  resolutions  against  him  and  his  paper  were 


96  ALTON    RIOTS. 

carried;  and  all  the  items  included  in  the  so  called 
compromise  with  his  supporters  were  withdrawn. 

The  mayor  proposed  the  following  vote: 

"Resolved,  that  as  citizens  of  Alton,  and  the 
friends  of  order,  peace  and  constitutional  law,  we 
regret  that  persons  and  editors  from  abroad  have 
seen  proper  to  interest  themselves  so  conspicuously 
in  the  discussion  and  agitation  of  a  question,  in 
which  our  city  is  made  the  principal  theatre." 

Against  whom  it  was  designed  to  operate  each 
man  was  left  to  judge  for  himself:  but  as  it  was 
passed  by  acclamation  it  was  evidently  understood 
to  reflect  on  all  persons  or  editors  who  had  censured 
the  proceedings  of  the  mob  and  endeavored  as 
friends  to  the  place  to  arouse  its  citizens  to  a  sense 
of  duty.  In  its  bearings  on  myself  it  was  not  emin- 
ently decorous  after  I  had  been  invited  by  the  ori- 
ginators of  the  meeting  to  attend. 

In  conclusion,  it  is  only  to  be  noted  that,  when  a 
resolution  was  proposed,  pledging  themselves,  to  aid 
the  mayor  in  case  of  violence  it  was  objected  to  as 
needless,  since  it  was  already  their  duty  so  to  do. 
Notwithstanding  this  standing  obligation  to  aid  in 
suppressing  violence,  they  had  already  resolved  so 
to  do  until  this  meeting:  and  when  a  resolution 
of  the  same  import  was  again  proposed  they  refus- 
ed to  pass  it.  Comment  is  needless. — Nor  need  we 
wonder  at  the  result.  What  else  could  be  expected 
after  a  report,  declining  to  recommend  the  mainten- 
ance of  law  in  defense  of  the  rights  of  Mr.  Love- 
joy,  had  been  made  by  so  intelligent  a  committee, 
and  adopted  by  the  assembly? 


ALTON    RIOTS.  97 

Thus  closed  this  remarkable  meeting.  As  calling 
out  an  effervescence  of  excited  feeling  it  has  no- 
thing to  distinguish  it  from  other  tumultuous  popu- 
lar assemblies.  But  in  one  particular  it  will,  it  is 
devoutly  to  be  hoped,  remain  peculiar  and  alone. 
It  was  called  to  act  on  principles  than  which  none 
can  be  conceived  more  sacred  and  more  indispensa- 
ble :  to  maintain  all  that  man  holds  dear  on  earth. 
These  principles  were  distinctly  laid  before  them; 
and  they  were  solemnly  warned  that  the  eyes 
of  the  nation  and  of  the  world  were  upon  them; 
and  an  opportunity  was  before  them  for  obtaining 
glory  that  should  never  die.  Still,  in  view  of  it  all, 
they  chose  to  occupy  the  ground  on  which  they 
now  stand;  and  on  it  to  await  the  judgment  of 
the  civilized  world.  What  that  judgment  will  be, 
no  one  can  doubt  who  reflects  on  the  purpose  of 
God  to  emancipate  the  world  by  the  truth:  and  that 
his  purposes  are  defeated  so  soon  as  the  right  of  free 
discussion  expires. 

The  ultimate  effects  of  the  meeting  we  soon  shall 
see.  The  immediate  effect  of  brother  Lovejoy's 
speech  was  very  remarkable  and  decided.  In  spite 
of  prejudice  it  extorted  an  involuntary  tribute  of 
respect  for  his  loftiness  of  soul,  and  caused  an  ab- 
solute certainty  in  every  mind,  of  friend  or  foe, 
that  he  would  never  abandon  his  post.  That  ques- 
tion it  settled.  I  could  see  and  feel  that  on  that 
point  all  doubt  had  left  every  mind.  There  may 
have  been,  and  probably  was,  previously,  a  hope 
that  by  constant  efforts  to  intimidate  and  annoy 
him,  he  might  be  induced  finally  to  leave  Alton. 


98  '       ALTON    JRIOTS. 

But  I  could  see  that  that  hope  was  thoroughly  ex- 
tinguished in  every  heart.  That  view  of  the  sub- 
ject was  dropped;  and  all  conversation  proceeded 
upon  the  supposition  that  no  one  expected  it. 

It  was  of  course  a  necessary  conclusion  that,  ei- 
ther his  antagonists  would  finally  relinquish  their 
efforts  in  despair,  or  arouse  themselves  to  a  decided 
attempt  to  destroy  him.  Which  they  would  do  it 
was  hard  to  decide.  From  many  things  which  I 
saw  during  the  following  three  days  I  was  led  to 
hope  that  they  were  disposed  to  relinquish  their 
efforts.  One  of  the  most  influential  of  them  was 
Overheard  to  say,  that  it  was  of  no  use  to  go  on 
destroying  presses,  as  there  was  money  enough  at 
the  east  to  bring  new  ones  as  fast  as  they  could  de- 
stroy them;  and  that  it  was  best  to  let  the  fanatics 
alone.  I  hoped  they  would  do  so;  and  so  did  Br. 
Lovejoy.  But  God  saw  fit  to  disappoint  our  hopes. 
The  days  that  I  was  there  spending  with  him  were 
destined  to  be  the  last  of  his  life.  His  work  was 
nearly  done;  the  hour  of  his  martyrdom  and  of  his 
reward  was  near  at  hand. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

Let  us  proceed  to  the  closing  scene.  Fully  to 
understand  the  course  of  events,  the  division  made 
of  the  community,  in  giving  an  account  of  the  meet- 
ing, should  be  borne  in  mind:  and  to  that  division 


ALTON    RIOTS.  99 

another  class  should  now  be  added;  the  magistrates 
of  the  city. 

Mr.  Lovejoy  having  decided  on  his  course,  the 
friends  of  law  and  order  made  their  arrangements 
for  the  defence  of  his  press.  Personal  violence,  or 
an  attempt  to  murder  him  was  not  expected.  It 
was  supposed  that  the  main  eifort,  if  any  were  made, 
would  be  to  destroy  the  press  as  it  was  landed.  We 
all  felt  that  if  once  deposited  in  Godfrey  &  Oilman's 
store  it  would  be  safe.  Great  difficulty  was  en- 
countered in  obtaining  a  special  constable  to  direct 
the  friends  of  law  in  case  of  an  attack,  under  the 
authority  of  the  mayor.  The  mayor  himself  did 
not  refuse  to  act;  but  as  it  might  be  inconvenient  to 
find  him  when  most  needed,  it  was  considered  im- 
portant to  have  one  of  the  supporters  of  the  press 
appointed  as  special  constable  on  any  sudden  emer- 
gency. Though  the  mayor  acceded  to  the  proposal 
it  was  from  time  to  time  delayed,  and  finally  it  was 
not  carried  into  effect.  The  mayor,  however,  still  con- 
sented to  direct  their  movement  when  called  upon. 

On  monday,  Mr.  W.  S.  Gilman  was  informed  that 
the  press  was  at  St.  Louis  on  board  a  boat  which 
would  probably  arrive  at  Alton  about  evening.  He 
immediately  sent  an  express  to  the  captain  of  the 
boat  requesting  him  to  delay  the  hour  of  his  arrival 
until  three  o'clock  at  night,  in  order  to  avoid  an 
affray  with  the  rioters.  This  movement  was  suc- 
cessful. The  spies  of  the  mob  watched  for  the 
arrival  of  boats  for  some  time;  but  late  in  the  eve- 
ning seemed  to  give  up  the  expectation  of  any  ar- 
rival that  night,  and  retired. 


100  ALTON    RIOTS. 

Meantime  the  supporters  of  the  press  met  at  M  -, 
Oilman's  store  to  the  number  of  thirty  or  more;  and? 
as  before  stated,  organized  themselves  into  a  volun- 
teer company  according  to  law,  and  spent  the  night 
in  the  store.  At  the  appointed  hour  the  boat  ar- 
rived, and  the  press  was  safely  landed;  the  mayor 
being  present.  All  arrangements  had  been  made 
with  such  judgment,  and  the  men  were  stationed  at 
such  commanding  points,  that  an  attack  would  have 
been  vain.  But  it  was  not  made.  A  horn  was  in- 
deed sounded,  but  no  one  came. 

Shortly  after  the  hour  fixed  on  for  the  landing  of 
the  boat,  Mr.  Lovejoy  arose  and  called  me  to  go 
with  him  to  see  what  was  the  result.  The  moon 
had  set  and  it  was  still  dark,  but  day  was  near;  and 
here  and  there  a  light  was  glimmering  from  the 
window  of  some  sick  room,  or  of  some  early  riser. 
The  streets  were  empty  and  silent,  and  the  sounds 
of  our  feet  echoed  from  the  walls  as  we  passed 
along.  Little  did  he  dream,  at  that  hour,  of  the  con- 
test which  the  next  night  would  witness:  that  these 
same  streets  would  echo  with  the  shouts  of  an  infuri- 
ate mob,  and  be  stained  with  his  own  heart's  blood  ! 

We  found  the  boat  there  and  the  press  in  the 
warehouse;  aided  in  raising  it  to  the  third  story. 
We  were  all  rejoiced  that  no  conflict  had  ensued, 
and  that  the  press  was  safe ;  and  all  felt  that  the 
crisis  was  over.  We  were  sure  that  the  store  could 
not  be  carried  by  storm  by  so  few  men  as  had  ever 
yet  acted  in  a  mob;  and  though  the  majority  of  the 
citizens  would  not  aid  to  defend  the  press  we  had 
no  fear  that  they  would  aid  in  an  attack.  So  deep 


ALTON    RIOTS.  101 

was  this  feeling  that  it  was  thought  that  a  small 
number  was  sufficient  to  guard  the  press  afterward; 
and  it  was  agreed  that  the  company  should  be 
divided  into  sections  of  six,  and  take  turns  on  suc- 
cessive nights.  As  they  had  been  up  all  night,  Mr. 
Lovejoy  and  myself  offered  to  take  charge  of  the 
press  till  morning;  and  they  retired. 

The  morning  soon  began  to  dawn;  and  that 
morning  I  shall  never  forget.  Who  that  has  stood 
on  the  banks  of  the  mighty  stream  that  then  rolled 
before  me  can  forget  the  emotions  of  sublimity  that 
filled  his  heart,  as  in  imagination  he  has  traced  those 
channels  of  intercourse  opened  by  it  and  its  branch- 
es through  the  illimitable  regions  of  this  western 
world  ?  I  thought  of  future  ages,  and  of  the  count- 
less millions  that  should  dwell  on  this  mighty  stream; 
and  that  nothing  but  the  truth  would  make  them 
free.  Never  did  I  feel  as  then  the  value  of  the 
right  for  which  we  were  contending:  thoroughly  to 
investigate  and  fearlessly  to  proclaim  that  truth. 
0,  the  sublimity  of  moral  power !  By  it  God  sways 
the  universe.  By  it  he  will  make  the  nations  free. 

I  passed  through  the  scuttle  to  the  roof  and  as- 
cended to  the  highest  point  of  the  wall.  The  sky 
and  the  river  were  beginning  to  glow  with  ap- 
proaching day,  and  the  busy  hum  of  business  to 
be  heard.  I  looked  with  exultation  on  the  scenes 
below.  I  felt  that  a  bloodless  battle  had  been  gain- 
ed for  God  and  for  the  truth;  and  that  Alton  was 
redeemed  from  eternal  shame.  And  as  all  around 
grew  brighter  with  approaching  day,  I  thought  of 
that  still  brighter  sun,  even  now  dawning  on  the 
12 


102  ALTOJN    RIOTS. 

i 

world,  and  soon  to  bathe  it  with  floods  of  glorious 
light. 

Brother  Lovejoy,  too,  was  happy.  He  did  not 
exult :  he  was  tranquil  and  composed:  but  his 
countenance  indicated  the  state  of  his  mind.  It 
was  a  calm  and  tranquil  joy,  for  he  trusted  in  God 
that  the  point  was  gained:  that  the  banner  of  an 
unfettered  press  would  soon  wave  over  that  migh- 
ty stream. 

Vain  hopes!  How  soon  to  be  buried  in  a  mar- 
tyr's grave.  Vain!  did  I  say?  No:  they  are  not 
vain.  Though  dead  he  still  speaketh;  and  a  uni- 
ted world  can  never  silence  his  voice.  Ten  thou- 
sand presses,  had  he  employed  them  all,  could  never 
have  done  what  the  simple  tale  of  his  death  will 
do.  Up  and  down  the  mighty  streams  of  the  west 
his  voice  will  go :  it  will  penetrate  the  remotest  cor- 
ner of  our  land:  it  will  be  heard  to  the  extremities 
of  the  civilized  world.  From  henceforth  no  boat 
will  pass  the  spot  where  he  fell,  heedless  of  his 
name,  or  of  his  sentiments,  or  of  the  cause  for 
which  he  died.  And  if  God  in  his  mercy  shall  use 
this  event  to  arouse  a  slumbering  nation  to  main- 
tain the  right  for  which  he  died,  he  will  look  down 
from  the  throne  of  his  glory  on  the  scene  of  his 
martyrdom  and  say,  It  is  enough :  truth  is  trium- 
phant :  the  victory  is  gained. 

We  returned  to  his  house,  and  before  my  depar- 
ture we  united  in  prayer.     His  wife,  through  weak 
ness,  had  not  risen.     In  her  chamber  we  met  in  the 
last  act  of  worship  in  which  we  were  to  unite  on 
earth.     I  commended  him  and  his  family  to  the 


ALTON    RIOTS.  103 

care  of  God.  As  I  left  her  I  cheered  her  with  the 
hope  that  her  days  of  trial  were  nearly  over  and 
that  more  tranquil  hours  were  at  hand.  Cheered 
by  these  hopes  I  bade  them  and  my  other  friends 
farewell,  and  began  my  journey  homeward.  On 
my  way  I  heard  passing  rumors  of  a  meditated  at- 
tack on  the  store ;  but  gave  them  no  weight.  The 
events  of  a  few  hours  proved  them  but  too  well 
founded. 

Of  the  tragical  catastrophe  I  was  not  a  spectator; 
but  after  careful  inquiry  of  eyewitnesses  *  I  shall 
proceed  to  narrate  the  leading  facts. 

From  the  statement  of  the  mayor  it  seems  that 
an  attack  was  apprehended;  and  that  the  matter 
was  laid  before  the  common  council,  and  that  they 
did  not  deem  it  necessary  to  take  any  action  on  the 
subject. 

On  account  of  the  fatigue  and  watching  of  the 
preceding  night,  most  of  the  defenders  of  the  press 
who  were  in  the  store  the  night  before  were  absent; 
and  others  took  their  place.  The  number  was 
larger  than  at  first  intended  in  consequence  of  an 
increased  apprehension  of  an  attack.  Their  appre- 
hensions were  realized.  An  attack  was  commenced 
at  about  ten  o'clock  at  night. 

In  order  to  render  the  narrative  more  clear  it  is 
necessary  to  say  a  few  words  concerning  the  struc- 
ture and  location  of  the  store.  It  consisted  of  two 
long  stone  buildings,  side  by  side,  in  one  block,  ex- 


*  In  addition  to  the  mayor's  statement  I  have  chiefly  relied  on  Mr. 
Gilman  and  Mr.  Weller. 


104  AL^ON    RIOTS 

tending  from  the  landing  in  Water  street  back  to 
Second  street;  with  doors  and  windows  at  each 
gable  end,  but  with  no  windows  at  the  sides.  Hence 
it  can  be  defended  at  the  ends  from  within,  but  not 
at  the  sides.  The  roofs  are  of  wood.  The  lots  on 
each  side  being  vacant,  these  stores  form  a  detached 
block,  accessible  on  every  side 

About  ten  o'clock  a  mob,  already  armed,  came 
and  formed  a  line  at  the  end  of  the  store  in  Water 
street,  and  hailed  those  within.  Mr.  Gilman  open- 
ed the  end  door  of  the  third  story,  and  asked  what 
they  wanted.  They  demanded  the  press.  He,  of 
course,  refused  to  give  it  up ;  and  earnestly  entreat- 
ed them  to  use  no  violence.  He  told  them  that  the 
property  was  committed  to  his  care ;  and  that  they 
should  defend  it  at  the  risk  and  sacrifice  of  their 
lives.  At  the  same  time  they  had  no  ill  will  against 
them,  and  should  deprecate  doing  them  an  injury. 
One  of  them,  a  leading  individual  among  the  friends 
of  free  inquiry  at  the  late  convention,  replied,  that 
they  would  have  it  at  the  sacrifice  of  their  lives,  and 
presented  a  pistol  at  him:  upon  which  he  retired. 

They  then  went  to  the  other  end  of  the  store  and 
commenced  an  attack.  They  demolished  two  or 
three  windows  with  stones  and  fired  two  or  three 
guns.  As  those  within  threw  back  the  stones,  one 
without  was  distinctly  recognised  and  seen  taking 
aim  at  one  within :  for  it  was  a  moonlight  eve- 
ning and  persons  could  be  distinctly  seen  and 
recognised. 

A  few  guns  were  then  fired  by  individuals  from 
within,  by  which  Lyman  Bishop,  one  of  the  mob, 


ALTON    RIOTS.  105 

was  killed.  The  story  that  he  was  a  mere  stranger 
waiting  for  a  boat,  and  that  Mr.  Lovejoy  shot  him, 
are  alike  incapable  of  proof.  He  was  heard  during 
the  day  by  a  person  in  whose  employ  he  was,  to 
express  his  intention  to  join  the  mob. 

After  this  the  mob  retired  for  a  few  moments, 
and  then  returned  with  ladders  which  they  lashed 
together  to  make  them  the  proper  length,  and  pre- 
pared to  set  fire  to  the  roof. 

About  this  time  the  mayor  having  been  informed 
of  the  riot,  came  on  to  the  ground:  but  having  few 
to  sustain  him,  was  unable  to  compel  the  rioters  to 
desist  by  force.  They  requested  him  to  go  into  the 
store,  and  state  to  its  defenders,  that  they  were  de- 
termined to  have  the  press;  and  would  not  desist 
until  they  had  accomplished  their  object;  arid  agreed 
to  suspend  operations  until  his  return.  Attended 
by  a  justice  of  the  peace  he  entered  and  delivered 
the  message  of  the  mob. 

Suppose  now  it  had  been  delivered  up  by  its  de- 
fenders and  destroyed.  How  remarkable  the  nar- 
rative must  have  been,  of  a  press  given  up  to  the 
mob  to  be  destroyed  by  the  agency  of  the  mayor 
and  a  justice  of  the  peace ! 

However,  they  did  not  give  it  up.  Mr.  Gilman 
requested  the  mayor  to  call  on  certain  citizens,  to 
see  if  they  could  not  prevent  the  destruction  of  the 
building.  He  said  he  could  not:  he  had  used  his 
official  authority  in  vain.  He  then  asked  him 
whether  he  should  continue  to  defend  the  property 
by  arms.  This  the  mayor  as  he  had  previously 
done,  authorised  him  to  do.  The  mayor  and  the 


106  ALTON    RIOTS. 

justice  were  then  informed  that  the  press  would  not 
be  given  up:  and  the  decision  was  by  them  com- 
municated to  the  mob.  They  then  proceeded  to  fire 
the  roof ;  taking  care  to  keep  on  the  side  of  the  store 
where  they  were  secure  from  the  fire  of  those  within. 
It  now  became  evident  to  the  defenders  that 
their  means  of  defense,  so  long  as  they  remained 
within,  was  cut  off;  and  nothing  remained  but  to 
attack  the  assailants  without.  It  was  a  hazardous 
step;  but  they  determined  to  take  it.  A  select 
number,  of  whom  Mr.  Lovejoy  was  one,  under- 
took the  work.  They  went  out  at  the  end,  turned 
the  corner,  and  saw  one  of  the  incendiaries  on  the 
ladder,  and  a  number  standing  at  the  foot.  They 
fired  and  it  is  supposed  wounded,  but  did  not  kill 
him;  and  then,  after  continuing  their  fire  some 
minutes  and  dispersing  the  mob,  returned  to  load 
their  guns.  When  they  went  out  again  no  one  was 
near  the  ladder,  the  assailants  having  so  secreted 
themselves  as  to  be  able  to  fire,  unseen,  on  the  de- 
fenders of  the  press  as  they  came  out.  No  assailants 
being  in  sight  Mr.  Lovejoy  stood,  and  was  looking 
round.  Yet,  though  he  saw  no  assailant,  the  eye  of  his 
murderer  was  on  him.  The  object  of  hati'ed,  deep, 
malignant  and  long  continued,  was  fully  before  him — 
and  the  bloody  tragedy  was  consummated.  Five  balls 
were  lodged  in  his  body,  and  he  soon  breathed  his 
last.  Yet  after  his  mortal  wound  he  had  strength  re- 
maining to  return  to  the  building  and  ascend  one  flight 
of  stairs  before  he  fell  and  expired.  They  then  at- 
tempted to  capitulate,  but  were  refused  with  curses 
by  the  mob,  who  threatened  to  burn  the  store  and 


ALTON    RIOTS.  107 

shoot  them  as  they  came  out.  Mr.  Roff  now  de- 
termined at  all  hazards  to  go  out  and  make  some 
terms,  but  he  was  wounded  as  soon  as  he-  set  his 
foot  over  the  threshold. 

The  defenders  then  held  a  consultation.  They 
were  shut  up  within  the  building,  unable  to  resist 
the  ferocious  mode  of  attack  now  adopted,  and 
seemed  devoted  to  destruction.  At  length  Mr. 
West  came  to  the  door,  informed  them  that  the 
building  was  actually  on  fire,  and  urged  them  to 
escape  by  passing  down  the  river  bank;  saying  that 
he  would  stand  between  them  and  the  assailants  so 
that  if  they  fired  they  must  fire  on  him.  This  was 
done.  All  but  two  or  three  marched  out  and  ran 
down  Water  street,  being  fired  on  by  the  mob  as 
they  went.  Two,  who  were  wounded,  were  left 
in  the  building,  and  one  who  was  not,  remained  to 
take  care  of  the  body  of  their  murdered  brother. 
The  mob  then  entered,  destroyed  the  press  and  re- 
tired. Among  them  were  seen  some  of  those  leading 
"  friends  of  free  inquiry"  who  had  taken  an  active 
part  in  the  convention. 

Before  these  tragic  scenes  were  ended,  the  streets 
were  crowded  with  spectators.  They  came  out  to 
see  the  winding  up  of  the  plot,  but  not  to  aid  in  re- 
pressing violence  or  maintaining  the  law.  The  vote 
to  aid  the  mayor  in  suppressing  violence  they  had 
Defused  to  pass,  because  it  was  their  duty  to  aid 
without  it:  and  here  we  see  how  powerful  their 
sense  of  duty  was.  The  time  of  the  conflict  was 
from  one  hour  and  a  half  to  two  hours.  During 


108  ALTON    RIOTs. 

this  time  the  bells  were  rung,  and  a  general  notice 
given;  and  yet  none  came  to  the  rescue.  It  has 
been  said  however,  in  extenuation  of  this  inactivity 
that  it  was  owing  to  a  want  of  concert  and  arrange- 
ment among  the  citizens,  or  by  the  police.  No  man 
knew  on  whom  he  might  call  to  aid  in  suppressing 
the  riot ;  and  some  who  have  professed  that  it  was 
their  desire  to  do  so,  say  that  they  were  hindered 
by  the  apprehension  that  they  might  be  only  rally- 
ing the  mob  in  the  attempt  to  quell  it. 

The  feelings  exhibited  by  the  mob  were  in  keep- 
ing with  the  deed  on  which  they  were  intent.  Oaths, 
curses,  blasphemy  and  malignant  yells,  broke  upon 
the  silence  of  the  night  as  they  prosecuted  their 
work  of  death.  But  even  passions  so  malignant, 
were  not  enough  to  give  them  the  hardihood  and 
recklessness  needed  for  their  work.  To  drench  con- 
science, blind  reason,  and  arouse  passion  to  its  high- 
est fury  by  the  intoxicating  cup,  was  needed  to  fit 
them  for  the  consummation  of  their  work.  The  lead- 
ers in  this  business  were  adepts;  they  knew  what 
means  were  adapted  to  their  ends,  and  used  them 
without  stint  or  treason. 

Thus  closes  a  tragedy  without  parallel  in  the  his- 
tory of  our  land.  In  other  popular  excitements, 
there  has  been  an  equal  amount  of  feeling :  in  some 
blood  has  been  shed.  But  never  was  there  an  avow- 
ed effort  to  overthrow  the  foundations  of  human 
society  pushed  to  such  bloody  results  :  and  that,  on 
principles  adapted  so  utterly  to  dissolve  the  social 
system,  and  plunge  the  nation  into  anarchy  and  blood . 


PART  II. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  leading  facts  of  the  case  are  now  before  the 
public.  And  in  view  of  these  facts,  one  main  ques- 
tion arises: — Who  are  responsible,  not  merely  legal- 
ly but  morally,  for  such  deeds  of  unparalleled  atro- 
city as  have  been  narrated  ?  On  the  one  hand  efforts 
have  been  made  to  throw  the  responsibility  on  Mr. 
Lovejoy;  on  the  convention;  on  myself;  or,  on  all 
of  us  united.  On  the  other  hand  it  is  maintained 
that  the  responsibility  of  these  transactions  rests  first 
of  all  on  the  guilty  agents:  and  next  on  all  who  ex- 
cited, instigated  or  countenanced;  or  who  did  not 
rebuke  and  oppose  them  in  their  guilty  deeds. 

In  order  to  come  to  a  correct  conclusion  we  must 
take  enlarged  views  of  all  the  principles  involved: 
and  of  the  series  of  events  taken  as  a  whole ;  and  in 
all  its  relations  to  the  existing  condition  of  ihe  Chris- 
tian world. 

There  are  those  whose  minds  are  so  constantly 
under  the  influence  of  the  narrow,  limited  local  in- 
terests around  them,  that  the  lofty  standard  of  eter- 
nal, immutable  truth  and  duty  is  by  them  disregard- 
ed or  unknown.  Whose  only  divinity  is  wealth  or 
popular  applause;  and  who  "with  an  eastern  devo- 
tion kneel  at  the  shrine  of  their  idolatry."  To  all 
such  1  have  nothing  to  say. 

K  109 


HO  ALTON   RIOTS. 

But  I  thank  God,  all  are  not  such.  That  our  na- 
tion as  a  mass  is  not  utterly  fallen  and  degraded — 
that  a  noble  host  of  lofty  spirits  still  remains.  I 
speak  of  no  party,  <jf  no  locality,  of  no  section  of 
our  land.  I  speak  of  the  redeeming  spirit,  which  I 
trust  in  God  pervades  it  all;  and  the  power  of  \vhich 
is  still  felt  in  every  party  of  every  name.  No:  all 
are  not  thus  sunk  and  degraded.  Multitudes  there 
are  who  still  can  rise  above  the  narrowness  of  local 
interests,  and  party  prejudice,  and  allow  their  minds 
to  move  in  the  current  of  the  destinies  of  the  hu- 
man race  :  who  can  recognize  the  sublimity  of  prin- 
ciple, and  with  prophetic  foresight  anticipate  the 
judgment  of  future  ages  on  great  moral  questions; 
who  have  not  yet  bowed  the  knee  of  idolatry  at  the 
shrine  of  popular  favor,  or  of  mammon;  who  ad- 
mit that  there  are  higher  principles  of  action  than 
mere  political  expediency,  or  the  voice  of  a  crowd; 
who  reverence  the  immutable  and  eternal  principles 
of  right;  and  believe  that  there  is  a  law  higher  than 
all  human  laws  :  and  who  are  not  ashamed,  with 
Blackstone,  and  Grotius,  and  Vattel,  and  all  the 
great  founders  and  expounders  of  national  and  mu- 
nicipal law,  to  believe  that  "  this  law,  being  dictated 
by  God  himself,  is  superior  in  obligation  to  any  oth- 
er; is  binding  over  over  all  the  globe,  in  all  coun- 
tries, at  all  times;  and  that  no  human  laws  are  of 
any  validity  if  contrary  to  this." 

To  all  such  I  appeal.  To  all  who  are  not  asham- 
ed of  the  spirit  of  their  fathers,  who  considered  true 
freedom  the  noblest  gift  of  God;  even  that  freedom 
which  guaranties  to  every  man  the  full  exercise  of 


ALTON    RIOTS.  l\\ 

the  loftiest  of  human  rights — the  right  fully  to  know, 
and  fearlessly  to  proclaim  and  to  do  the  will  of  God: 
the  right  to  regard  the  opinions  of  that  One  as  of 
more  weight  than  the  universe  besides:  and  the 
right  to  do  His  will  though  the  public  sentiment  of 
millions  oppose. 

To  such  I  appeal.  Such  I  know  there  are. 
Though  as  a  nation  we  have  long  been  sinking  from 
the  lofty  ground  of  principle  with  which  we  began; 
though  the  cursed  love  of  gold  has  left  to  multitudes 
no  standard  of  right  and  wrong  but  dollars  and 
cents;  and  the  thirst  for  political  promotion  has  left 
to  others  no  criterion  of  truth  but  the  opinions  of  the 
majority,  however  profligate;  I  trust  there  are  some 
left,  who  still  believe  that  their  souls  belong  to  none 
but  God  and  the  truth:  and  who  by  the  grace  of 
God  are  determined  to  resist,  even  unto  death,  the 
tyranny,  which  would  compel  the  soul  to  forego 
communion  with  the  loftiest  spirits  of  all  ages;  shut 
it  out  from  participation  in  the  mightiest  movements 
of  the  age: — yea,  and  prohibit  it  from  being  a  co- 
worker  with  God  in  the  execution  of  his  vast  de 
signs  of  renovating  a  mined  world. 

To  all  such  I  shall  submit  the  following  positions; 
which,  in  view  of  the  preceding  facts,  I  shall  en- 
deavor to  maintain: — 

— That  the  great  discussion  which  gave  rise  to 
these  transactions  is  an  essential  part  of  the  move- 
ment of  the  providence  of  God  in  the  present  age 
of  the  world;  and  that  to  evade  it  is  impossible;  to 
oppose  it,  vain. 


112  ALTON   RIOTS. 

— That  to  the  manner  in  which  it  came  up  in 
this  state  there  is  no  just  ground  of  objection. 

— That  the  first  development  of  mob  violence  has 
not  even  a  plausible  pretext  for  its  justification:  and 
to  palliate  it,  connive  at  it,  or  attempt  to  justify  it, 
is  treason,  both  against  God  and  man. 

— That  after  the  first  development  of  violence, 
every  possible  effort  was  made,  in  a  cool,  kind,  tem- 
perate and  judicious  way,  to  arrest  its  course  by 
plans  of  conciliation  and  concession;  and  by  efforts 
to  unite  the  wise  and  the  good  against  the  lawless 
and  riotous  disturbers  of  the  peace. 

— That  these  efforts  were  defeated  by  a  spirit  of 
intolerance  and  persecution,  that  rejected  all  con- 
ciliation or  compromise;  that  excluded  all  argument; 
and  would  be  satisfied  with  nothing  but  the  entire 
and  unconditional  surrendry  of  the  noblest  rights 
and  privileges  of  the  human  mind. 

— That  all  hopes  of  evading  this  spirit  by  re- 
treat was  vain;  that  to  retire  before  it,  would 
but  give  it  new  malignity  and  power;  and  that 
there  was  no  alternative  but  to  defeat  it  there,  or, 
by  falling  in  the  contest,  compel  it  to  disclose  to 
the  civilized  world  its  real  nature  and  its  malignant 
power. 

— That  in  conducting  this  opposition,  our  princi- 
ples were  sound  and  judicious;  such  as  have  re- 
ceived the  united  approbation  of  the  civilized  world; 
and  that  the  efforts  made  by  many  to  excite  odium 
against  them,  can  be  the  result  of  nothing  but  inex- 
cusable prejudice  or  malignity. 


ALTON  RIOTS.  H3 

— That  there  cannot  be,  to  a  candid  mind,  the 
slightest  reason  to  question  on  whom  the  whole 
guilt  of  these  transactions  rests. 


CHAPTER  II. 

In  remarking  upon  these  points,  it  is  not  at  all  my 
design  to  argue  the  main  question  of  abolitionism. 
I  shall  say  nothing  on  that  subject  except  what  is 
necessary,  as  a  matter  of  self-defense.  But  to  do 
this  it  is  essential  that  we  should  fully  state  what 
we  consider  the  relations  of  the  subject  in  question 
to  the  present  age.  Otherwise  no  one  can  appreci- 
ate the  motives  in  view  of  which  we  acted;  or  judge 
of  the  propriety  or  prudence  of  our  course. 

Let  then  the  first  great  question  be  fairly  met. — 
Is  not  a  full  discussion  of  this  subject  a  part  of  the 
plans  of  God  ?  Does  it  not  belong  to  the  movement 
of  his  providence  in  the  present  age  ?  Has  not  his 
Spirit  brought  it  up  ?  Is  not  he  determined  that  it 
shall  be  discussed  and  decided  ?  Has  he  not  a  right 
so  to  determine  ?  Is  it  not  a  duty  to  obey  his  will  ? 
And  can  it  be  wise  or  prudent  to  attempt  to  arrest 
a  discussion  which  he  has  determined  to  bring  on  ? 

The  present  age  has  its  characteristics.  The 
course  of  the  providence  of  God  is  clear  and  distinct; 
the  signs  of  the  times  are  not  ambiguous:  they  may 
easily  be  known. 

x  2 


ALTON   RIOTS. 

Who  can  deny,  that  the  tendency  of  the  age  is, 
to  make  one  sublime  and  simple  truth  the  regula- 
ting principle  of  all  human  society: — that  in  the 
very  nature  of  the  human  mind,  and  in  the  relations 
of  man  to  God,  there  is  a  foundation  laid  for  certain 
immutable  duties  and  rights;  that  the  relations  of 
the  individual  to  God  are  higher  and  more  sacred 
than  any  other  relations ;  and  that,  as  God  has  made 
it  the  duty  of  every  individual  to  live  for  him,  so  it 
is  the  immutable  right  of  every  human  being  to  be 
free  to  do  it  ? 

Who,  I  say,  can  deny  this  ?  Is  it  not  a  notorious 
fact,  that,  since  the  Reformation,  the  great  subjects 
of  the  age  have  been  religion  and  government  ? 
And  that  the  central  principle  of  all  this  discussion 
has  been  individual  unalienable  rights  ? — rights, 
not  created  by  human  governments;  but  given  by 
God  in  the  creative  act  by  which  he  made  man  a 
free  moral  agent,  whose  highest  duty  and  happiness 
was  to  know  and  do  the  will  of  his  God. 

And  why  should  it  not  be  so  ?  If  it  is  God's 
purpose  to  convert  the  world,  what  can  he  do  so 
directly  to  prepare  the  way,  as  to  revive  in  the  hu- 
man mind  a  deep  and  full  conviction  of  these  rights  ? 
They  are  the  very  basis  of  all  religion.  No  man  can 
be  converted  to  God  who  does  not  recognize  them. 
That  God  has  on  him  higher  claims  than  father  or 
mother,  or  brother  or  sister,  or  ruler  or  people :  and 
that,  as  it  is  his  duty  at  all  hazards  to  obey  God,  so 
it  is  his  right.  In  short,  that  it  is  the  inalienable 
right  of  every  human  being  to  live  for  the  great  end 
for  which  God  made  him  j  and  in  accordance  with 


ALTON    RIOTS.  115 

the  laws  of  the  nature  which  God  gave  him.  Who, 
I  say,  can  deny  that  all  this  is  true  ? 

And  now,  if  there  is  on  earth  a  system  of  laws, 
which  daily  authorizes  the  violation  of  every  funda- 
mental right  of  millions  of  human  beings,  without 
protection  or  redress:  which  authorises  the  destruc- 
tion of  all  rights  of  knowledge,  of  conscience,  of 
marriage  and  family,  of  chastity,  of  property,  of  re- 
putation and  influence,  and  of  protection  against 
personal  abuse;  and  in  its  own  nature  tends  to  ren- 
der this  violation  certain :  if  there  be  such  a  system, 
I  ask,  is  it  not  in  the  way  of  all  the  designs  of  God, 
and  of  the  whole  tide  and  current  of  his  providence 
in  the  present  age  ?  Especially  if  placed  in  the 
very  focal  point  of  illumination  for  the  world,  on  the 
great  subject  of  inalienable  rights.  If  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  individual  rights,  on  which  our 
systems  are  based  are  not  false;  or  if  God  does  not 
mean  to  curse  the  world  by  loading  them  with  dis- 
grace ;  if  he  does  not  mean  to  roll  back  the  wheels  of 
time,  and  plunge  the  nations  in  a  second  night  of 
ages;  can  he,  will  he  allow  such  a  system  to  remain  ? 

But  how  shall  it  be  removed  ?  This  is  a  great 
question  of  moral  reformation;  and  one  on  which 
nothing  but  experience  can  throw  light.  Hence  he 
has  called  up  the  attention  of  the  world  to  it;  and 
put  in  train  a  vast  course  of  experiments.  This 
has  been  carried  on  in  all  circumstances,  and  in 
every  variety  of  condition:  and  has  at  last  worked 
out  one  uniform  result.  It  has  disclosed  a  set  of 
principles,  founded,  as  we  think,  on  nature ;  and  in 
strict  accordance  with  the  laws  of  the  mind  and  the 


ALTON   RIOTS. 

dictates  of  political  economy;  and  which  have  been 
tested  by  experience  again  and  again.  They  are 
these: 

That  to  continue  such  a  system  of  law,  in  order 
that  under  its  influence  slaves  may  gradually  be 
prepared  for  freedom,  is  ridiculous,  hopeless  and  ab- 
surd: for  the  system  has  no  tendencies  but  to  unfit 
for  freedom,  and  to  degrade. 

That  to  suppose  that  the  continuance  of  such  a 
system  is  essential  to  the  safety  of  the  masters,  is  to 
assume,  in  direct  violation  of  the  word,  and  entire 
disregard  of  the  providence  of  God,  that  it  is  ever 
more  safe  to  do  wrong  than  to  do  right.  Again, 

That  to  abolish  this  system  at  once,  and  to  replace 
it  by  a  wise  and  equitable  system  of  legislation,  in 
which  the  slave  shall  be  restored  to  his  rank  and  his 
rights  as  a  man  and  an  immortal  being;  a  system 
adapted  alike  to  defend  the  community  against  va- 
grancy and  idleness,  and  to  enlighten,  elevate,  em- 
ploy and  protect  the  emancipated  as  free  laborers, 
is  reasonable,  practicable,  safe  and  a  duty:  and  that 
no  man  has  a  right,  voluntarily,  to  keep  any  human 
being  under  such  a  system  of  law,  under  pretence 
of  doing  him  good,  for  every  such  pretext  is  vain. 

Now,  it  is  not  my  purpose  to  argue  the  truth  or 
falsehood  of  these  views.  All  I  affirm  is,  that  the 
exigencies  of  the  age  require  that  they  should  be 
fairly  discussed:  and  that  to  hold  them  is  no  crime. 
We  are  bound  at  least  fairly  to  discuss  them  accor- 
ding to  the  immutable  principles  of  eternal  right. 
We  are  bound  solemnly  to  raise,  and  prayerfully  to 
discuss  the  question;  Are  they  not  the  views  of  God  ? 


ALTON  RIOTS.  H7 

We  are  not  of  course  to  conclude  that,  if  they  are 
tne  views  of  God  they  would  not  be  opposed.  Has 
God  never  been  opposed  on  earth  ?  Did  the  fact 
that  Christ  taught  the  pure  will  of  God  shield  him 
from  persecution  and  death  ?  But  to  whom  am  I 
speaking  ?  I  thought  that  at  least  the  followers  of 
Christ  had  not  forgotten  that  God's  whole  work  on 
earth  is  to  subdue  a  hostile  world :  and  the  fact 
that  any  system  of  opinions  is  hated  by  the  wicked, 
the  dissolute,  the  ambitious,  the  proud,  and  the 
avaricious,  is  strong  presumptive  evidence  that 
it  is  of  God:  and  that  those  professors  of  religion 
who  take  a  ground  which  all  such  will  extol  have 
deep  reason  to  fear  that  they  are  even  fighting 
against  God.  "  If  ye  were  of  the  world  the  world 
would  love  its  own,  but  because  ye  are  not  of  the 
world,  but  I  have  chosen  you  out  of  the  world, 
therefore  the  world  hateth  you,"  is  the  criterion  of 
discipleship  given  by  Christ.  How  can  those  pro- 
fessed Christians  fail  to  tremble  who  carry  about 
them  such  a  damning  evidence  of  hostility  to  the 
cause  of  God,  as  the  applauses  of  a  mob  ? 

But  if  it  should  at  last  prove  true,  as  we  are  sure 
it  will,  that  these  are  the  opinions  of  God;  is  it  im- 
prudent to  hold,  or  to  discuss  them  ?  What  if  a 
corrupt  public  sentiment  does  oppose  ?  Is  it  impru- 
dent to  fear  God  more  than  man  ?  Is  it  imprudent 
to  refuse  to  follow  a  multitude  to  do  evil  ?  To  what 
deadly  results  are  the  habits  of  the  day  about  to 
bring  us  ?  Is  there  then  no  standard  of  right  and 
wrong  but  the  voice  of  a  mob  ? 

Yet  this,  the  question  of  all  questions,  is  the  only 


118  ALTON    RIOTS. 

one  which  those  who  bring  such  multiplied  charges 
of  imprudence  against  us  have  failed  to  raise.  They 
think  of  nothing  but  popular  opinion:  outraging 
public  sentiment:  and  fail  to  inquire  whether  this 
public  sentiment  is  right  or  wrong  ?  whether  it  is 
for  God,  or  against  him  ? 

And  is  it  to  prevent  the  discussion  of  opinions 
like  these,  that  all  the  foundations  of  society  must 
be  dissolved:  that  odium  and  bitter  persecution 
must  be  aroused:  and  rights  guarantied  by  God 
must  be  trodden  under  foot  ?  Take  off,  take  off,  I 
beseech  you,  the  veil  of  prejudice  and  look  at  them 
once  more. 

They  have  been  hooted  at  as  a  mere  theory; 
they  have  been  derided  as  chimerical;  and  their  ad- 
vocates have  been  subjected  to  obloquy  and  con- 
tempt, as  a  mere  insignificant  fraction  of  the  civili- 
zed world;  and  the  very  idea  of  discussing  them 
treated  with  scorn. 

That  these  views  are  true,  I  need  not  now  at- 
tempt to  prove.  It  is  enough  that  they  are  not  too 
palpably  absurd  to  be  discussed.  And  who  dares 
make  such  an  assertion  of  views  like  these  ?  Views, 
which  are  not  a  mere  theory;  but  originate  from 
the  very  nature  of  the  human  mind,  and  from  the 
immutable  relations  of  man  to  God.  Not  a  chime- 
rical, untried,  visionary  plan  of  reformation;  but 
the  result  of  the  experience  of  the  civilized  world 
for  the  last  fifty  years;  which  have  all  been  tested 
by  facts;  in  favor  of  which  all  facts  testify  with 
united  voice — not  one  against  them.  The  adro- 


ALTON   RIOTS.  119 

cates  of  which,  though  here  a  despised  minority, 
are  not  a  small  party  among  the  wise  and  good  of 
the  age;  but  are  the  vast  majority  in  the  civilized 
world.  Views  which  have  not  been  brought  up 
out  of  time  and  place,  and  against  the  current  of 
the  age;  but  by  the  great  movements  of  the  human 
mind,  and  the  irresistible  course  of  the  provi- 
dence of  God.  Views,  too,  on  which  our  own  in- 
stitutions are  founded. 

Now  what  we  ask  is,  not  that  any  be  compelled 
to  believe  these  opinions;  but  that  the  mere  fact  of 
believing  and  exhibiting  them  be  not  stigmatized  as 
fanatical,  incendiary,  treasonable,  and  deserving 
of  nothing  but  mobs,  outrage  and  death.  Is  it  pos- 
sible, that  in  a  country,  professing  to  be  free; 
where  the  people  make  all  the  laws,  and  can  of 
course  repeal  them;  and  where  in  every  constitution 
the  idea  of  change  is  not  only  held  out  but  the  mode 
of  making  it  prescribed,  we  are  to  be  told  that  all 
these  invitations  to  free  inquiry  are  so  much  solemn 
mockery  ?  That  the  character  of  these  laws  no 
man  must  investigate,  although  they  may  involve 
principles  which  have  aroused  the  attention  of  the 
civilized  world;  and  though  the  subject  is  urged  on 
us  by  the  providence  of  God;  and  an  imperious  sense 
of  duty  ?  It  is  said  these  views  are  incendiary.  And 
is  this  charge  to  be  admitted  without  discussion, 
or  proof?  We  deny  it:  and  affirm  that  they  are 
salutary  and  tend  to  safety  and  peace.  And  we 
stand  ready  to  give  the  proof. 

It  is  said,  we  have  no  concern  in  the  system. 
And  is  this  the  mere  ipse  dixit  of  an  interested  par- 


120  ALTON   RIOTS. 

ty,  or  of  a  mob,  to  settle  so  grave  a  point  without 
argument  or  dispute  ?  We  deny  it.  It  affects  not 
only  the  community  where  it  is;  but  the  whole 
union  and  the  civilized  world:  and  it  exposes  the 
whole  nation  to  the  wrath  of  God.  Even  Jefferson, 
who  was  no  fanatic,  said:  "I  tremble  for  my 
country,  when  I  remember  that  God  is  just." 

But  it  is  said,  you  will  produce  excitement:  what 
then  ?  Did  not  Christ  produce  excitement  ?  Did 
he  not  kindle  a  fire  on  earth  ?  The  question  is  not, 
Will  men  be  excited  ?  but,  Have  they  any  right  to 
be? 

But  it  is  said,  you  will  outrage  public  sentiment. 
What  then  ?  Did  not  Christ  do  the  same  ?  What 
if  public  sentiment  is  wrong  and  opposed  to  God: 
are  we  to  hold  back  the  truth  lest  it  be  outraged  ? 

The  fact  is,  there  is  but  one  possible  ground  : — 
adherence  to  God  and  the  immutable  principles  of 
right.  'And  if  any  man,  or  any  community  is  of- 
fended at  this,  the  fault  is  their  own.  This  course 
is  wisdom.  This  course  is  prudence. 

As  to  the  main  question,  then,  there  is  no  doubt: 
we  have  the  right  to  discuss  this  subject;  the  great 
movements  of  the  age  demand  it;  and  wisdom  and 
prudence  enforce  the  command. 


ALTON  RIOTS. 


CHAPTER  III. 

It  is  equally  obvious  that  to  the  manner  in  which 
the  subject  came  up  in  this  state,  there  is  no  just 
ground  of  objection. 

How  did  it  come  up  ?  Mildly  and  quietly,  and 
after  years  of  thought.  I  know  it  is  fashionable  to 
talk  of  the  burning  spirit  of  the  abolitionists.  And 
that  some  have  indicated  a  wrong  spirit  I  do  not 
deny.  But  it  is  not  true  of  the  movement  in  this 
state  as  a  whole,  that  it  has  ever  exhibited  any 
features  except  sober  and  serious  thought,  and  can- 
did, fair  and  thorough  discussion:  and  no  steps  of  a 
public  nature  have  ever  been  taken  except  after 
long  and  prayerful  inquiry.  And  if  any  one  affirms 
to  the  contrary  I  fearlessly  challenge  him  for  the 
proof.  No  such  proof  can  be  found,  for  there  are 
no  facts  on  which  to  base  it. 

The  first  developments  of  mob  violence,  too,  have 
not  even  a  plausible  pretext  for  their  justification : 
and  to  palliate,  connive  at,  or  attempt  to  justify 
them,  is  treason  against  God  and  against  man. 

Let  us  look  at  the  facts  of  the  case.  A  religious 
paper  is  established  at  St.  Louis.  Does  its  editor 
advocate  the  odious  doctrines  of  the  abolitionists  ? 
No.  Yet  still  he  encounters  the  vengeance  of  the 
mob.  Why  ?  Because  he  dared  to  remonstrate 
against  the  profanation  of  the  Sabbath,  and  of  his 
nation's  flag  for  purposes  of  religious  bigotry  : 


122  ALTON  RIOTS. 

Because  he  dared  to  remonstrate  against  the  law- 
less proceedings  of  a  mob,  who  burnt  alive  a  fellow 
man,  without  trial,  judge,  or  jury.  Because  he 
indignantly  rebuked  the  anarchical  doctrines  of  a 
lawless  judge  who  declared  the  power  of  the  mob 
to  be  above  the  power  of  the  law.  And  because, 
though  no  abolitionist,  he  dared  even  to  maintain 
that  slavery  was  a  great  moral  evil,  and  ought  as 
soon  as  possible  to  be  removed. 

He  came  to  this  state,  his  paper  was  re-establish- 
ed, and  he  at  first  supposed  that  he  would  not  be 
called  on  to  oppose  slavery  as  he  had,  and  so  said, 
but  made  no  pledge  to  be  silent;  nay,  expressly 
stated  that  he  would  not  be  bound. 

At  length,  by  the  progress  of  his  own  mind,  and 
of  events,  he  is  convinced  that  it  is  his  duty  to  speak, 
and  he  does  it.  Again,  many  in  the  state  wish  to 
organize  themselves  into  a  society  for  discussion 
and  for  moral  influence,  and  consult  him.  He  for 
a  time  puts  them  off ;  and  at  last,  in  compliance 
with  their  wishes,  proposes  the  inquiry f — Is  it 
best  so  to  organize  ?  and  asks  for  the  opinions  of 
friends. 

And  here  violence  begins.  He  is  first  falsely  ac- 
cused of  violating  a  pledge,  and  then  told  that  it  is 
the  will  of  a  majority  that  he  forbear  to  print.  An 
editor  of  a  neighboring  city  in  a  slave  state  applauds 
the  spirit  of  the  meeting,  tells  them  that  Mr.  Love- 
joy  "  has  forfeited  all  claims  on  that  or  any  other 
community,"  exhorts  them  "to  eject  from  among 
them  that  minister  of  mischief,  the  Observer,  or  to 
correct  its  course ;"  and  threatens  them  with  the  loss 


ALTON  RIOTS.  ]23 

of  trade  unless  they  "  put  a  stop  to  the  efforts  of 
these  fanatics,  or  expel  them  from  their  community." 

In  the  meeting  no  charges  are  made  of  an  impru- 
dent use  of  language,  or  of  a  bad  spirit.  The  sim- 
ple head  and  front  of  his  offending  is,  that  he  holds 
certain  opinions  which  the  majority  of  the  commu- 
nity do  not  like;  and  which  they  proclaim  to  be 
subversive  of  the  interests  of  the  place ! 

And  is  a  freeman  to  submit  to  such  atrocious  ty- 
ranny as  this  ?  Are  the  rights  of  conscience  noth- 
ing ?  Is  duty  to  God  nothing  ?  Are  sacred  char- 
tered privileges  nothing  ?  Is  a  foreign  editor,  with- 
out trial,  judge  or  jury,  to  proclaim  a  citizen  of  our 
state  an  outlaw,  to  say  that  all  the  bonds  which 
once  bound  him  to  civil  society  are  dissolved,  and 
to  point  him  out  to  the  mob  as  deserving  of  nothing 
but  wrath,  unless  he  will  at  their  dictation  resign  the 
dearest  rights  of  the  human  soul  ?  Is  there  no 
God  ?  Are  there  no  immutable  principles  of  right  ? 
Is  there  no  law,  no  justice,  no  fear  of  God  ?  Have 
we  no  ruler  but  the  demon  of  anarchy;  and  no 
Lord  but  that  bloody,  thousand  headed,  murderous 
tyrant,  the  mob  ? 

Had  it  been  under  Nero,  Mr.  Lovejoy  might  rea- 
sonably have  fled.  That  bloody  tyrant  made  no 
pretensions  to  reason,  or  to  the  fear  of  God.  But 
has  a  Christian  nation  sunk  so  low  that  in  the  midst 
of  laws,  charters,  and  most  sacred  guaranties,  made 
for  the  express  purpose  of  defending  the  rights  of 
speech;  and  to  be  maintained  and  administered  by 
Christian  men ;  they  will  require  a  citizen,  at  the  bid- 
ding of  an  infuriate  mob,  to  sacrifice  conscience, 


124  ALTON  RIOTS. 

abandon  every  right,  and  seek  for  safety  in  inglori- 
ous flight  ?  And  yet,  because  Mr.  Lovejoy  refused 
to  do  this  he  is  stigmatized  as  stubborn,  dogmatical, 
rash  and  imprudent:  and  we  are  gravely  told  that 
he  deserves  no  sympathy;  and  that  on  him  the  guilt 
of  those  atrocious  deeds  must  rest,  which  have  in- 
fixed so  indelible  a  stain  on  the  American  name  f 

If  indeed  it  is  so,  it  is  time  for  us  to  know  it,  and 
cease  our  boastings  of  freedom  and  equal  rights. 
Even  the  inquisition  itself  was  never  guilty  of  deeds 
so  atrocious.  It  gave  to  its  miserable  victims  at 
least  the  forms  of  justice  and  a  trial.  Nor  did  it 
ever  claim  the  power  of  rising  superior  to  law.  But 
in  a  Christian  land  even  the  show  of  justice  is  laid 
aside;  and  an  innocent  man,  a  man  guilty  of  no 
crime  or  misdemeanor,  a  man  who  had  done  noth- 
ing to  justify  even  the  least  excitement;  is  stripped 
at  a  blow  of  every  right;  all  ties  that  bind  him  to 
the  community  are  cut; — and  that  solely  because  he 
will  not  bow  the  knee  to  the  irresponsible  censor- 
ship of  a  profligate  mob. 

1  Had  Mr.  Lovejoy  been  intemperate  in  his  use  of 
language  it  would  not  have  furnished  the  slightest 
excuse  for  such  proceedings.  But  he  was  not. 
Even  this  poor  pretext  is  wanting.  At  the  time  of 
the  meeting  it  was  not  even  claimed.  I  know  it  has 
since  been  got  up  by  some  eastern  editors,  who  in 
all  probability  never  read  his  paper.  But  it  will  not 
do.  His  exposition  of  views  put  forth  to  meet  this 
crisis  is  marked  by  nothing  so  much  as  a  calm,  tem- 
perate, kind  and  dignified  style.  It  indicates  the 
spirit  of  a  man  unwilling  to  provoke,  and  anxious 


ALTON    RIOTS 

only  to  convince.  And  he  even  watched  over  his 
language  on  this  subject  with  solicitous  care.  And 
I  fearlessly  say,  that,  from  one  article  on  slavery  in 
the  journal  of  the  Colonization  society,  which  I 
have  now  hi  my  eye,  I  can  select  more  severity  of 
language  on  the  subject  of  slavery  than  from  all 
Mr.  Lovejoy  ever  wrote. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Again:  when  we  saw  the  evil  coming  on  we  did 
all  in  our  power  to  unite  good  men,  allay  excite- 
ment, and  restore  law. 

It  was  my  deep  sense  of  the  need  of  such  an  ef- 
fort, which  induced  me  to  give  my  name  to  the  call. 
It  was  then  my  plan,  not  to  press  the  formation  of 
a  state  society  at  the  expense  of  division  and  mobs, 
but  as  this  was  the  original  cause  of  the  excitement — 
for  no  man  who  has  noticed  facts  can  doubt  it — to 
concede  this  point,  and  demand  only  a  kind,  friend- 
ly, uncommitted  discussion ;  and  a  society  of  inqui- 
ry, if  any  organization  was  thought  best.  I  urged 
on  Br.  Lovejoy  and  his  friends,  that  from  a  regard 
to  the  public  peace  they  would  yield  their  private 
feelings  and  plans.  And  what  was  Br.  Lovejoy's 
reply  ?  You  will  not  find  me  obstinate.  For  union 
and  peace,  I  will  give  up  any  thing  but  duty.  And 
so  said  his  friends.  What  more  could  they  do? 

I  then  explained  to  a  number  of  the  leading  citi- 

L2 


126  ALTON   RIOTS. 

zens  of  Alton,  the  dangers  of  division  among  good 
men;  and  intreated  them  to  unite,  not  in  forming  an 
anti-slavery  society,  but  in  a  friendly  discussion  : 
and  pointed  out  a  way  in  which,  without  any  com- 
mittal, they  might  modify  the  course  of  their  breth- 
ren and  avoid  a  mob.  And  when  they  approved 
these  views  I  made  the  result  public,  and  invited 
the  friends  of  unity  among  the  good,  and  of  free  in- 
quiry to  attend  the  approaching  meeting.  And 
what  more  could  be  done  ? 

Now  in  this  very  critical  aspect  of  affairs;  after 
one  mob  had  taken  place  and  when  another  was 
threatened,  it  did  seem  to  me  that  it  would  be  cruel 
in  the  extreme,  directly  or  indirectly  to  add  fuel  to 
the  fire  which  I  was  striving  to  quench.  Public  odi- 
um was  already  burning  fearfully  against  a  small 
and  hated  minority;  and  how  could  any  one  take 
this  very  hour  to  add  fresh  intensity  to  the  flame  ? 
Why  not  at  least  let  the  trial  be  made  unimpeded 
by  new  accessions  of  odium  and  hostility. 

And  now,  although  I  am  willing  to  acquit  the 
leaders  of  the  colonization  society  of  all  deliberate 
malignity  of  purpose;  and  though  the  majority  of 
those  who  joined  it,  I  am  sure,  did  not  anticipate  its 
results;  yet  no  charity  requires  me  to  forbear  to 
narrate  what  was  actually  done,  or  to  delineate  its 
effects. 

In  the  first  place  it  seemed  to  be  got  up  expressly 
to  defeat  the  convention. 

In  the  second  place  it  held  out  fully  and  promin- 
ently the  idea  that  no  plan  of  proceeding  was  ra- 
tional or  safe,  but  the  one  proposed  by  itself. 


ALTON    RIOTS.  127 

Again:  it  passed  a  resolution  designed  to  operate 
directly  against  the  convention  about  to  be  held, 
and  adapted  to  render  it  odious,  by  insinuations  and 
inuendoes;  as  if  it  were  to  be  composed  of  men 
who  were  accustomed  to  use  unchristian  and  abu- 
sive epithets  against  the  slaveholding  community, 
and  to  assume  that  they  were  the  only  friends  of 
the  slave  or  of  his  emancipation. 

Again:  the  same  clergyman  and  editor,  by  whom 
this  resolution  was  introduced,  in  his  account  of  the 
meeting  takes  it  for  granted  that  the  meeting  of  the 
colonization  society  has  rendered  abortive  all  the 
plans  of  the  friends  of  the  convention,  and  remarks 
concerning  them,  "Doubtless  a  very  few  restless 
spirits  will  be  disappointed,  vexed,  mortified,  and 
may  struggle  for  a  time  to  enjoy  notoriety."  Now 
all  this  as  individuals  we  could  easily  bear.  It  is 
little  to  be  called  restless  spirits;  disappointed,  vex- 
ed, mortified,  and  striving  for  a  brief  notoriety. 
Though  even  if  we  had  been  such,  and  had  been 
defeated  too,  it  is  worthy  neither  of  a  man  nor  a 
Christian,  much  less  of  a  minister  of  Christ,  thus  to 
exult  over  our  anticipated  fall. 

But  in  this  light  I  do  not  view  it.  I  regard  not 
at  all  its  influence  on  personal  feeling;  but  its  mani- 
fest tendencies  at  once  to  defeat  all  plans  of  concili- 
ation or  union,  and  all  efforts  to  allay  excitement, 
or  to  tranquillize  the  public  mind;  and  to  arouse  to 
new  intensity  the  fury  of  the  mob. 

Of  whom  was  such  language  used  ?  Of  men  ob- 
stinate and  perverse,  despising  union  and  intent 
solely  on  arousing  and  inflaming  the  public  mind? 


128  ALTON  RIOTS. 

No:  but  of  men  who  had  gone  to  the  uttermost 
limit  of  concession,  and  whose  only  demand  was 
that  they  should  not  be  compelled  to  give  up  every 
plan  without  deliberation  or  discussion — at  the  bid 
ding  of  a  mob.  Could  not  the  editor  of  a  religious 
paper,  a  professed  minister  of  Christ,  find  any  kinder 
language  than  this  for  such  men  ?  And  could  he 
calmly  devise  measures  and  plans,  the  only  ten- 
dency of  which  was  to  shut  them  out  from  the 
sympathy  of  the  good  and  expose  them  to  the  fury 
of  the  mob  ?  And  if  such  language  ought  ever  to 
be  used,  was  this  the  time  and  the  place  ?  Well 
do  I  remember  the  emotions  which  filled  my  heart 
as  first  this  language  met  my  eye.  It  came  at  that 
very  crisis  when  first  I  felt  that  it  was  fearfully 
probable  that  we  were  soon  to  be  called  to  wrestle 
with  the  fury  of  a  mob.  And  he  who  has  never 
been  called  to  pass  through  such  a  scene  can  never 
know  what  it  is  to  be  thus  assailed  in  such  an  hour 
by  a  professed  minister  of  his.  Savior  and  his  God. 

I  am  willing  to  make  all.  possible  allowances. 
Nor  will  I  say  that  these  good  men  wished  to  excite  a 
mob.  -But  I  must  say,  that  if  they  had  wished  it  they 
could  not  have  used  means  more  adapted  to  produce 
the  result.  And  if  they  did  not  see  the  direct  ten- 
dency of  measures  like  these,  some  strange  delusion 
had  blinded  their  eyes. 

At  all  events  the  results  were  sure.  The  majority 
of  good  men  stood  aloof,  and  left  the  convention  a 
mark  for  its  foes.  What  friends  of  free  inquiry  came 
in;  the  spirit  they  displayed,  and  the  course  which 
they  pursued,  we  have  seen.  How  all  discussion  was 


ALTON    RIOTS.  129 

nipped  in  the  bud;  and  how,  when  we  retired  to  a 
private  house  to  escape  the  storm,  it  pursued  us 
still,  we  have  also  seen.  And  we  have  seen  too, 
how  this  same  editor,  afterwards,  gave  such  pro- 
ceedings no  rebuke,  but  regarded  them  alike  cred- 
itable to  the  place,  and  promotive  of  the  general 
good. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  true  spirit  of  intolerance  now  stood  exposed. 
Events  were  so  ordered  by  the  providence  of  God 
as  to  strip  off  every  disguise.  It  now  became  plain 
that  all  attempts  to  conciliate  and  to  discuss  were 
vain:  and  nothing  remained  but  to  resist  or  to 
submit. 

I  am  aware  that  even  pride  or  resentment  might 
dictate  resistance  to  such  demands  as  were  made  on 
us;  and  had  these  been  our  motives  the  act  had 
deserved  no  praise.  But  though  sinful  passions 
might  prompt  to  such  a  course,  their  entire  absence 
would  not  lead  to  the  reverse.  Indeed,  the  more 
we  reflected  on  our  duties  to  God  and  the  truth,  and 
the  more  we  considered  the  principles  involved,  the 
more  did  we  feel  that  we  could  not  retreat.  We 
felt  that  a  crisis  had  come,  and  in  Mr.  Lovejoy's 
view  there  was  but  the  alternative — to  conquer  or 
to  die.  He  had  deliberately  looked  the  matter 
through;  and  was  willing  either  to  triumph,  should 


130  ALTON  RIOTS. 

God  permit,  or  to  die;  that  the  real  nature  of  the 
malignant  influences  now  at  work  might  be  fully 
disclosed,  and  the  nation  at  last  be  aroused.  And 
after  solemn  deliberation,  and  much  consultation 
and  prayer,  he  took  his  ground  to  remain. 

But  it  was  of  no  use  to  remain  without  a  press; 
and  ruin  to  import  presses  and  not  defend  them. 
For  there  was  a  moral  certainty  that  presses  to  any 
number  would  be  destroyed  if  no  effort  was  made 
to  protect  them.  And  how  could  this  be  done  ? 
Was  it  not  by  endeavoring  to  arouse  the  citizens  to 
sustain  the  laws?  Had  all  been  aroused  to  the 
effort  our  end  would  have  been  at  once  secured. 
But  all  were  not;  a  part  were  willing  to  act  and  a 
part  were  not.  Still  the  law  and  civil  power  were 
not  turned  against  us:  Under 'them  we  could  act. 

And  the  question  was  twofold.  1.  Can  we 
with  this  force  maintain  our  ground  ?  2.  If  we  fail 
what  will  be  the  result  ?  As  to  the  .first  they 
thought  they  could.  If  not  it  would  arouse  the  na- 
tion, and  test  the  principles  of  the  case.  Now  all 
that  was  done  was  the-  carrying  out  of  this  plan: 
and  if  you  find  fault  with  'the  execution,  you  find 
fault  with  the  plan. 

It  is  objected  to  on  these  grounds. 

1.  That  all  defense  of  law  by  arms  is  wrong. 

2.  That  the  defense  was  part  of  a  system  of  ef- 
forts to  propagate  the  truth:  and  was  therefore  pro- 
pagating the  truth  by  carnal  weapons. 

3.  That  a  clergyman  aided  to  make  it. 

As  to  the  first  1  can  only  say^  that  so  long  as 
man  is  in  the  body,  physical  force  must  be  used  to 


ALTON    RIOTS.  131 

secure  moral  results.  God  always  has  used  it,  and 
always  will.  And  all  physical  laws  causing  death 
if  they  are  violated  are  laws  made  by  God:  and 
sanctioned  by  the  penalty  of  death  to  secure  their 
observance.  And  it  is  the  fear  of  this  penalty  that 
deters  men-  from  their  violation.  That  in  the  gospel 
he  has  authorized  the  maintenance  of  law  by  the 
sword,  an  instrument  of  death;  and  that  no  laws 
not  sustained  by  this  ultimate  resort  can  have  any 
binding  power. 

Nor  is  it  rendering  "  evil  for  evil"  in  the  sense 
forbidden  by  Christ  to  punish  with  death  the  man 
who  aims  to  prostrate  human  law,  any  more  than  it 
is  rendering  "  evil  for  evil"  for  God  to  punish  a  sin- 
ner for  violating  the  laws  of  the  universe.  Nor  is 
it  true  that  no  punishments  are  right  but  those 
which  seek  the  sinner's  good.  Does  God  punish  sin- 
ners  forever  for  their  own  good;  or  to  "  set  them  forth 
as  an  example,  suffering  the  vengeance  of  eternal 
fire,"  as  he  affirms. 

The  main  design  of  punishment  obviously  is  to 
deter  from  transgression.  The  certainty  of  an  ulti- 
mate appeal  to  force  is  all  that  gives  law  any  ter- 
rors to  the  wicked.  The  good  may  be  a  law  unto 
themselves;  but  as  we  are  told  by  Paul,  the  law 
is  not  made  for  such,  but  for  murderers  and  thieves 
and  all  who  can  be  restrained  by  no  higher  motive 
than  fear.  In  Alton  all  such  fear  had  been  nearly 
taken  away.  Had  it  been  restored;  had  the  con- 
viction been  deeply  fixed  that  the  large  mass  of  the 
community  would  sustain  the  law  by  force;  a 
small  band  of  wicked  men  would  never  have  dar- 


132  ALTON  RIOTS. 

ed  to  make  the  attack.  It  was  the  report  of  the 
committee,  and  the  resolutions  of  the  meeting  of 
citizens  which  took  this  fear  away  and  emboldened 
the  wicked  in  their  deeds  of  violence  and  blood. 

As  to  the  fact  that  the  defense  was  of  a  press — 
a  part  of  a  system  of  means  for  diffusing  truth — it 
may  be  replied,  that  in  all  well  organized  Christian 
communities,  this  principle  is  involved:  and  all  ar- 
guments against  it  are  deduced  from  a  considera- 
tion of  expediency  or  duty  under  an  entirely  differ- 
ent state  of  society.  For  example:  An  itinerant 
missionary,  like  the  apostles  under  the  persecuting 
Roman  power,  might  be  under  obligations  not  to 
use  force,  but  to  flee  from  city  to  city  when  perse- 
cuted. Force  could  do  no  good:  it  was  hopeless 
against  the  power  of  an  empire.  But  for  a  man  so 
situated  it  was  best  to  have  no  wife,  nor  house,  nor 
printing  press,  nor  any  other  ties 'to  fasten  him  to 
any  spot.  Again:  An  itinerant  in  a  nominally 
Christian  community,  yet  a  community  thoroughly 
degraded  and  corrupt,  and  refusing  to  enforce  law, 
might  be  under  obligation  to  pursue  the  same 
course;  because  force  would  be  useless;  and  he 
could  do  nothing  but  flee  from  place  to  place,  and 
preach  as  he  went. 

But  suppose  now  a  minister  is  settled  in  a  regular, 
well  organized  Christian  community,  the  vast  ma- 
jority of  which  are  decided  friends  of  Christianity, 
and  supporters  of  law.  Now  if  fifty  or  a  hundred 
men  out  of  thousands,  excited  to  rage  by  some  un- 
wholesome truth,  attempt  to  tear  down  his  meeting 
house, — is  no  resistance  to  be  made  ?  Or,  if  his 


ALTON    RIOTS.  133 

person  is  assailed;  shall  he  seek  no  defense  from  law, 
but  flee  ?  Or  allow  himself  to  be  abused  or  slain  ? 

Now  suppose  a  body  of  men  unite  to  disseminate 
the  truth  by  means  of  missionaries,  or  bibles,  or 
tracts;  and  erect  buildings  and  buy  presses.  If 
these  are  assailed  shall  they  not  apply  to  the  magis- 
trate and  seek  the  protection  of  the  law  ?  And,  if 
needed,  shall  not  force  be  used  ?  And  yet  these 
are  parts  of  a  system  the  direct  end  of  which  is 
to  disseminate  the  truth.  The  fact  is,  that  in  the 
best  states  of  society  investments  of  capital  in  means 
of  moral  influence  increase  solely  because  they  are 
protected  by  law;  and  when  the  law  ceases  to  pro 
tect,  or  opposes  them,  they  cease  to  exist.  And  if 
•we  lay  down  the  principle  that  the  means  of  exert- 
ing moral  influence  are  not  to  be  defended  by  force 
of  arms,  because  they  are  devoted  to  the  high  pur- 
poses of  disseminating  the  truth,  where  shall  we 
land  ?  Stores  and  ships  if  used  for  making  money 
may  be  protected;  but  if  used  for  higher  and  nobler 
ends,  not.  And  all  presses,  houses,  churches,  aca- 
demies, or  schools,  which  are  used  for  high  moral 
and  religious  ends,  must  be  given  up  to  the  fury  of 
a  mob. 

The  fact  is,  the  idea  that  defending  the  means  of 
exerting  moral  influence,  or  the  persons  of  those 
who  use  them,  is  making  use  of  carnal  weapons  to 
propagate  the  truth,  is  an  entire  delusion.  If  it  wer* 
so,  then  every  minister  in  the  land  is  propagating 
the  truth  by  carnal  weapons.  Are  not  all  ministers 
defended  by  the  law  ?  And  does  not  this  rest  ulti- 
mately on  an  appeal  to  force  or  arms  if  it  is  invaded. 
M 


ALTON    RIOTS. 

What  matters  it  whether  the  necessity  of  using  them 
occurs  every  day  or  not,  if  it  is  known  that  they 
will  be  used  whenever  needed  ?  The  fact  is,  that 
protecting  a  man  when  he  is  preaching  is  not  pro- 
pagating truth  by  carnal  weapons:  it  only  enables 
him  to  state  the  truth  in  safety.  It  compels  no  one 
to  believe  him.  So,  defending  a  press  or  an  editor 
only  enables  him  to  print  in  safety:  it  compels  no 
one  to  read,  or  to  believe.  Did  we  attempt  to  com- 
pel men  to  believe  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  that 
would  be  using  carnal  weapons  to  propagate  truth. 
But  who  has  done  this  ? 

Now,  that  all  printing  presses  are  under  the  pro- 
tection of  law,  has  been  heretofore  considered  the 
settled  order  of  things  in  this  state.  Hence  it  was 
not  a  duty  to  leave  Alton  until  it  was  settled  that 
this  is  not  the  fact  there.  And  we  resolved  to  do 
all  in  our  power  to  prevent  this  result  from  being 
established.  But,  if  we  failed,  we  intended  so  to 
fail  that  the  atrocity  of  such  a  state  of  things  should 
be  clearly  seen.  We  did  not  mean  to  give  room  to 
the  inhabitants  of  Alton  thereafter,  when  writhing 
under  the  lashings  of  public  sentiment  for  having 
driven  away  a  free  press,  and  smothered  free  dis- 
cussion, to  say  to  us,  "You  have  stained  the  charac- 
ter of  the  city  by  your  premature  flight:  the  threats 
of  an  insignificant  band  of  ruffians  frighted  you: 
if  you  had  staid  we  would  have  protected  you." 
We  did  not  mean  to  slip  off,  and  go  to  another  spot, 
and  have  the  same  scenes  acted  over.  This  would 
but  have  extended  the  sphere  of  corruption  and  en- 
listed more  and  more  on  the  side  of  anarchy.  The 


ALTON    RIOTS.  135 

only  true  policy  was  to  test  the  question  there;  and 
see  if  the  law  would  give  way;  and  if  so,  then  to 
see  if  there  is  .in  our  land  moral  energy  enough  to 
react.  We  looked  upon  it  as  a  test  question  for  our 
whole  land;  and  so  indeed  it  was.  Deadly  influ- 
ences were  at  work;  anarchical  principles  were  eat- 
ing out  the  very  life  of  the  body  politic;  and  yet  the 
nation  was  asleep:  and  nothing  but  an  earthquake 
shock  could  arouse  her  to  life. 

Now  granting  the  soundness  of  these  views; — 
and  that  they  are  sound  who  can  deny  ? — what  was, 
in  few  words,  the  great  end  of  our  enterprise  ?  It 
was  either  by  victory  to  restore  law  to  its  power; 
or  by  death  to  disclose  the  astounding  fact  that,  in 
one  portion  of  our  land  the  reign  of  law  was  over, 
and  that  of  anarchy  had  begun.  In  full  faith  that 
God  would  use  this  event  to  arouse  and  to  save  the 
nation,  slumbering  on  the  brink  of  ruin,  and  thus 
produce  the  effect  of  which  the  National  Intelligen- 
cer justly  says:  "It  would  be  some  consolation  to 
humanity  if  we  could  safely  count  upon  the  effects 
thus  anticipated,  that  the  time  had  now  come  when 
the  majesty  of  the  laws  is  to  be  asserted;  and  when 
men  may  travel,  speak  and  write  in  the  United 
States,  without  coming  under  other  surveillance  than 
that  legally  provided;"  we  took  our  stand. 

Now  if  the  result  is,  through  the  blessing  of  God, 
the  final  restoration  of  a  sound  public  sentiment  on 
the  great  scale,  law  will  reign  again,  even  in  Alton; 
and  no  more  force  will  b«  needed.  According  to 
these  views  a  sound  public  sentiment  in  the  major- 
ity is  essential  to  make  the  exercise  of  force  useful 


136  ALTON   RIOTS. 

in  restraining  a  vicious  and  disorderly  minority. 
But  when  the  majority  is  unsound,  law  can  no  lon- 
ger be  sustained:  and  to  use  force  on  the  small  scale 
is  vain,  if  in  the  body  politic,  as  a  whole,  there  is 
no  restorative  power.  In  such  a  case  I  would  make 
no  effort  at  defense;  but  after  the  example  of  the 
apostles  flee  before  the  storm. 

It  was  not,  then,  a  contest  for  abolition,  but  for 
law  and  human  society,  against  anarchy  and  mis- 
rule. Now  if  Br.  Lovejoy  was  willing  in  such  a 
contest  to  die;  if  with  enlarged  and  far  reaching 
views  he  had  calculated  all  these  results — and  that 
he  had  I  well  know — was  it  recklessness,  was  it  ob- 
stinacy, that  urged  him  on,  or  a  noble  devotedness 
to  the  cause  of  God  and  man  ? 

But  he  was  a  clergyman,  it  is  said.  So  indeed 
he  was.  But  he  was  a  citizen  none  the  less  for  that: 
and  as  a  citizen  he  had  rights  and  duties  too.  And 
is  it,  at  this  late  day,  to  be  laid  down  as  a  rule,  that 
for  doing  his  duty  in  defending  his  rights  as  a  citi- 
2en  he  is  to  forfeit  his  character  as  a  minister  of 
Christ? 

But  it  is  said,  he  died  with  murderous  weapons 
in  his  hands,  and  with  the  blood  of  a  fellow  being 
on  them.  The  whole  is  false.  He  died  in  defense 
of  justice,  and  of  the  law,  and  of  right :  and  with 
the  instrument  of  justice  in  his  hands.  Is  it  so,  in- 
deed ?  When  the  ruler  by  the  command  of  God 
bears  the  sword,  has  he  a  murderous  weapon  in  his 
hand  ?  And  if  he  executes  a  criminal,  is  the  blood 
of  a  fellow  creature  on  his  hands  ?  Who  are  they 


ALTON   RIOTS.  137 

that  use  such  language  as  this  ?  The  men  who  are 
in  favor  of  chaplains  on  board  of  our  ships  of  war, 
and  in  our  armies.  The  men  who  eulogize  Ash- 
mun,  a  clergyman  too,  who  under  the  auspices  of  a 
benevolent  society,  gave  orders  to  fire  charge  after 
charge  of  grape  shot  among  dense  masses  of  his 
fellow  men.  The  men  who  eulogize  with  never 
ending  paeans  of  praise  the  heroes  of  Bunker  Hill, 
of  Yorktown,  of  New  Orleans.  And  is  it  said  that 
these  men  acted  in  self-defense,  and  in  defense  of 
inalienable  rights  ?  And  did  not  Lovejoy,  too  ?  Is 
it  said,  perhaps  Ashmun  did  not  fire  the  cannon  him- 
self ?  How  much  better  is  it  to  plan  a  battle  and 
inspirit  his  soldiers  to  the  contest  than  to  fire  him- 
self ?  Do  not  all  lawyers  know  that  "  quifacit  per 
alium,facit  per  se  ?"  And  how  much  better  was 
it  for  clergymen  in  sermons  and  prayers,  and  by 
their  presence,  to  urge  our  fathers  on  than  to  fight 
themselves  ?  In  point  of  morality  there  is  not  a  shade 
of  difference,  and  all  know  there  is  none  in  law. 

There  are  men  among  us  who  are  consistent. 
Men  at  whose  heresies  the  very  persons  who  use 
this  cant  have  been  sorely  alarmed.  Men  who  are 
stigmatized  as  "peace  men"  and  "no  human  gov- 
ernment men."  At  the  heresies  of  such  they  have 
filled  the  land  with  clamor.  And  what  now  ?  Have 
they  come  over  to  their  opinions,  after  all  this  out- 
cry ?  Then  why  not  strike  their  colors  ?  Why 
keep  on  fighting  ?  At  one  hour  they  stigmatize 
their  views  as  false  and  pernicious;  and  the  very 
next  what  do  we  see  ? — There  are  men,  who  dis- 
card all  these  heresies,  and  maintain  that  human 

M   2 


138  ALTON   RIOTS. 

governments  ought  to  exist,  and  to  be  defended  by 
the  sword;  and  maintain  the  rights  of  self-defense j 
and  they  actually  go  so  far  as  to  reduce  their  prin- 
ciples to  practice:  and  all  at  once,  smit  with  pious 
horror,  they  start  back  at  the  tragedy,  and  talk  of 
murderous  weapons  and  the  blood  of  a  fellow  man! 
Consistent  men !  Well  may  we  say  of  such, "  where 
unto  shall  I  liken  the  men  of  this  generation?"— ""* 
The  fact  is,  that  the  prejudices  of  some  against 
certain  opinions  are  so  inveterate  as  to  blind  them 
even  to  the  simplest  truths.  And  such  is  their  zeal 
to  censure  the  defenders  of  a  hated  cause,  that  they 
pour  upon  them  volley  after  volley,  as  if  utterly  un- 
conscious that  to  reach  them  they  must  first  batter 
down  every  intrenchment  of  their  own. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

BUT  it  is  said  the  majority  of  the  citizens  of  Alton 
did  not  wish  the'press  locUted  there.  What  then?  Have 
a  majority  a  right  to  drive  out  a  minority  if  they 
happen  in  the  exercise  of  inalienable  rights  to  do 
what  they  do  not  like :  and  if  they  will  not  go, 
murder  them?  And  is  it  every  editor's  duty  to 
give  up  all  his  civil  rights  at  the  voice  of  the  ma- 
jority, and  flee  ? 

But  this  is  not  all.  It  is  not  a  mere  question  of 
an  editor's  rights.  All  parties  in  the  state  have  a 
right  to  the  advantages  of  prominent  commercial 


ALTON  RIOTS.  139 

points.  If  any  place  is  in  a  center  of  communica- 
tion, like  Alton,  it  is  the  best  location  for  a  pape?: 
and  any  set  of  men  in  the  state  have  a  right,  if  they 
wish,  to  establish  a  paper  there.  Had  it  been  a 
political  paper  in  which  citizens  all  over  the  state 
were  interested,  what  would  have  been  said  of  an 
effort  to  drive  it  away  because  the  majority  of  Al- 
ton were  opposed  to  its  views  ? 

But  it  is  said  "  that  it  was  injurious  to  the  inter- 
ests of  the  place  to  have  it  there.  This  allegation  is 
both  false  and  absurd.  If  its  views  were  false  it 
was  easy  to  answer  them;  but  if  true,  can  it  be  in- 
jurious to  know  the  truth  ?  It  is  said,  it  would 
injure  the  character  and  trade  of  the  place.  Is  it 
then  injurious  to  any  place  to  be  known  as  the  de- 
cided friend  of  free  inquiry  and  the  fearless  protec- 
tor of  the  rights  of  speech  ?  Even  if  it  had  caused 
a  loss  of  dollars  and  cents;  is  money  the  chief  good 
and  the  loss  of  it  the  greatest  of  all  evils  ?  Is  not  an 
elevated  character  for  morality,  intelligence,  good 
order  and  religion  worth  more  than  untold  sums  of 
silver  and  gold  ?  But  how  delusive  the  idea  that 
such  a  character  could  injure  the  commercial  inter- 
ests of  Alton.  No!  it  was  because  I  loved  Alton, 
and  could  not  bear  to  see  her  fair  fame  blasted  that 
I  exerted  myself  to  secure  the  restoration  of  law  to 
the  last.  To  have  left  Alton  at  the  bidding  of  a 
mob  could  never  have  restored  her  lost  character. 
This  nothing  but  the  entire  restoration  and  inflex- 
ible maintenance  of  the  law  could  do. 

But  it  is  said,  your  efforts  only  made  the  matter 
worse.  So,  too,  the  efforts  of  Christ  did  but  make 


140  ALTON    RIOTS. 

the  last  state  of  the  Jews  worse  than  the  first:  but 
general  principles  and  a  regard  to  the  great  whole 
urged  him  on.  So,  too,  we  felt  that  it  was  a  ques- 
tion of  principles;  and  the  voice  of  the  nation  was 
with  us,  and  a  regard  to  the  general  good  urged  us 
on.  Besides :  who  could  know  that  our  efforts 
would  be  vain  ?  We  believed,  and  on  what  seemed 
to  us  satisfactory  grounds,  that  they  would  not 
be  vain.  Moreover  such  a  thing  had  never  hap- 
pened in  our  nation,  as  an  entire  prostration  of 
the  right  of  free  discussion  by  a  mob:  and  we  did 
not,  and  could  not  believe  that  it  would  take  place 
there.  We  acted  according  to  the  evidence  we  had; 
and  who  could  demand  any  thing  more.  Duties  are 
ours — results  belong  to  God. 

On  whom  then  does  the  guilt  of  these  transac- 
tions fall  ? — First,  on  the  guilty  agents:  and  next,  on 
all  who  excited,  instigated  or  countenanced  them  in 
their  deeds.  All  who  have  aided  to  stigmatize  with 
unjust  reproach  an  innocent,  meritorious  and  suffer- 
ing portion  of  their  fellow  citizens.  Profligate  edi- 
tors, at  the  east  and  at  the  west,  have  a  large  ac- 
count to  render  to  God  for  these  bloody  deeds.  All 
professedly  religious  men  who  have  by  rendering 
their  fellow  citizens  odious  in  the  eyes  of  an  infuri- 
ated mob,  stimulated  their  hatred  and  urged  them 
on.  All  who  have  refused  to  fear  God  more  than 
man;  and  who,  through  fear  of  popular  odium, 
have  failed  to  oppose  and  rebuke  the  workers  of 
iniquity.  All  who  have  allowed  their  prejudices 
against  unpopular  sentiments  to  render  them  trait- 


ALTON   RIOTS.  141 

orous  to  the  great  principles  of  human  society  and 
to  the  holy  cause  of  God. 

Who  these  are  I  shall  not  now  particularize.  I 
refer  to  the  simple  record  of  the  past  and  leave  it  to 
a  candid  public  to  judge. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

So  much  has  seemed  due  to  the  cause  of  truth, 
and  to  the  character  of  those  who  endeavored  to 
maintain  the  cause  of  freedom  against  the  violence 
of  the  mob.  But  a  more  particular  tribute  is  due 
to  him  who  has  sealed  with  his  blood  his  testimo- 
ny to  this  sacred  cause.  To  give  an  extended  anal- 
ysis of  his  character  is  not  my  design.  That  work 
is  already  assigned  to  other  hands.  My  purpose  is 
simply  to  state  such  facts  as  I  know,  and  as  have  a 
particular  relation  to  his  connection  with  the  cause 
for  which  he  died.  A  letter  from  one  who  has 
been  supposed  to  be  an  intimate  friend  of  the  fam- 
ily, and  who  was,  in  fact,  a  brother  minister,  has 
caused  me  deep  regret.  The  supposition  that  the 
author  was  intimately  acquainted  with  Mr.  Love- 
joy  is  entirely  incorrect.  He  had  been  but  a  short 
.time  a  resident  at  Alton,  and  his  intercourse  with 
Mr.  Lovejoy  very  limited.  I  was  at  Alton  nearly  the 
whole  time  during  which  he  had  any  opportunity  to 
see  him  and  spent  a  large  portion  of  my  time  at  hi? 
house.  And  I  can  truly  say  that  the  statements  of 


142  ALTON   RIOTS. 

his  letter  are  entirely  unlike  any  thing  I  ever  saw 
in  Br.  Lovejoy,  then  or  at  any  other  time.*  ; 

That  he  was  a  man  of  strong  feelings  I  know, 
but  I  never  saw  him  when  he  did  not  have  them 
under  complete  control.  And  I  have  known  him 
intimately  in  the  scenes  of  his  deepest  trial.  I 
saw  him  during  his  troubles  in  St.  Louis;  and 
spent  some  days  in  his  family.  And  during  his 
persecutions  in  this  state  I  have  been  with  him  in 
circumstances  which  put  every  grace  of  the  Chris- 
tian character  to  the  proof.  And  the  uniform  re- 
sult has  been  that  his  trials  have  but  rendered  his 
Christian  spirit  the  more  apparent.  Never  did  I 
hear  him,  even  in  his  most  unguarded  hours  utter 
an  angry,  an  impatient,  a  vindictive  word.  And 
if,  as  some  have  said,  this  was  his  natural  temper, 
never  have  1  seen  such  a  temper  so  thoroughly 
chastened  and  controlled  by  the  spirit  of  God.  I 
have  argued  with  him  for  hours  and  heard  him  ar- 
gue with  others  on  subjects  in  which  he  felt  deep 
and  intense  interest;  and  yet  I  never  knew  him  to 
lose  the  mastery  of  his  spirit.  All  was  kind  and  calm. 
Indeed  from  the  time  of  the  commencement  of  his 
trials  at  St.  Louis  until  his  death,  he  seemed  to 
take  a  new  stand  as  a  devoted  and  spiritual  Chris- 
tian; and  daily  to  grow  in  grace  and  in  the  know- 
ledge of  our  Lord  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ.  Espe- 
cially was  this  true  towards  the  close  of  his  life . 

*  Since  the  above  was  written,  the  writer  of  that  letter  has  sponta- 
neously given  to  the  public  an  explanation  which  at  once  exonerates 
himself  from  all  just  censure,  and  destroys  the  foundation  on  whicn 
certain  editors  have  erected  their  batteries  against  the  reputation  of  Mr. 
Lovejoy. 


ALTON   RIOTS.  143 

During  the  days  which  he  spent  at  my  house  a  few 
weeks  before  his  death,  we  were  all  struck  with  his 
uncommonly  mild,  gentle,  tender  and  lovely  frame 
of  mind.  In  the  deliberations  held  at  that  time 
the  same  traits  strikingly  appeared. 

He  has  been  charged  with  obstinacy.  That  he 
was  firm  I  grant;  but  it  was  the  firmness  of  princi- 
ple and  not  of  passion  or  of  will.  I  have  had  occa- 
sion to  try  to  modify  his  plans;  and  never  did  I  find 
a  man  more  open  to  conviction  or  influence.  He 
truly  and  ardently  loved  the  cause  of  God,  and  de- 
sired the  unity  of  his  people;  and  ah1  appeals  derived 
from  this  quarter  found  in  his  mind  a  ready  response. 
By  such  appeals  his  whole  soul  was  swayed.  But 
that  he  was  not  easily  moved  by  motives  of  a  lower 
order  to  deviate  from  the  decisions  of  duty  I  readily 
admit.  He  was  a  single  hearted  man.  He  lived 
solely  for  God  and  the  public  good.  And  hence 
that  which  is  terrific  to  groveling  minds  had  no 
power  over  his.  He  did  not  live  for  honor  or  for 
gold,  nor  for  the  pleasures  of  life.  Hence  he  re- 
garded without  fear  the  threats  of  shame  and  loss 
and  death,  with  which  his  enemies  sought  to  shake 
the  purpose  of  his  soul. 

Such  loftiness  of  character  they  could  not  under- 
stand: to  them  it  was  dogged  stubbornness.  But 
he  was  content  to  walk  in  the  steps  of  him  "  who 
for  the  joy  set  before  him,  endured  the  cross,  de- 
spising the  shame,  and  is  now  set  down  at  the  right 
hand  of  the  throne  of  God." 

His  social  affections  were  strong  and  tender. — 


144  ALTON    RIOTS. 

Never  did  I  know  a  man  who  had  so  keen  a  relish 
for  the  joys  of  home.  His  inexpressible  love  for 
his  son,  now  an  orphan,  I  shall  never  forget.  It 
seemed  to  open  a  channel  for  the  full  tide  of  a 
father's  emotions,  quickened  perhaps  even  then  by 
the  thought  that  soon  he  might  be  deprived  of  a 
father's  care. 

His  intellectual  character  is  best  learned  from  his 
works.  As  a  writer  he  was  clear,  vigorous  and  pre- 
cise in  the  maintenance  of  the  great  principles  of 
right:  and  in  the  exposure  of  error  or  the  rebuke 
of  vice  he  spoke  with  tremendous  power.  Whilst 
a  political  editor  in  Missouri  he  had  no  superior; 
and  even  his  enemies  paid  an  involuntary  tribute  to 
his  intellectual  power. 

His  mind  whilst  editor  of  the  Observer,  as  has 
already  been  remarked,  passed  through  a  revolution 
of  sentiment  on  a  great  moral  question,  and  this,  of 
necessity  caused  the  subject  to  become  one  of  in- 
tense interest  to  him.  How  could  it  be  otherwise  ? 
especially  as  he  was  made  to  pay  the  penalty  for 
daring  to  think  as  a  man  and  a  Christian,  every  step 
that  he  took.  But  his  mind  was  not  the  subject  of 
morbid  excitement.  He  did  not  lose  his  interest  in 
all  other  truth;  though,  as  was  natural,  he  laid  out 
the  largest  share  of  his  energy  where  most  needed. 

In  speech  and  in  writing  he  was  perfectly  frank. 
He  used  no  concealment  or  reserve.  In  certain 
states  of  society,  or  certain  employments  this  would 
be  recognized  by  all  as  an  excellency.  But  he  was 
a  moral  censor  and  a  reprover  of  vice.  Hence  it 
caused  him  to  be  feared.  And  yet  he  never  spoke 


ALTON   RIOTS.  145 

in  malice  or  revenge.  Whatever  he  saw  or  felt  he 
saw  clearly  and  felt  deeply  and  uttered  freely,  fully 
and  without  reserve.  Nor  did  he  always  see  how 
deep  his  words  would  cut,  nor  all  the  points  they 
would  strike. 

If  this  is  an  intellectual  defect  it  was  not  caused 
by  a  malignant  heart,  nor  is  it  the  defect  of  a  nar- 
row soul.  It  is  rather  the  overaction  of  that  full- 
ness of  a  generous  soul  the  power  of  whose  emo- 
tions is  such  as  to  bear  it  away:  nor  can  we  be  sur- 
prised if  energy  so  great  as  his  was  not  always 
regulated  with  the  calm  reserve  of  an  unimpassion- 
ed  soul. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

But  to  decide  on  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  ac- 
tors in  this  scene  is  of  small  moment,  unless  we 
can  discover  the  bitter  root  from  whence  these  evils 
sprung.  By  some  this  is  supposed  to  be  a  deep 
and  rapidly  increasing  national  degeneracy;  an  in- 
creased disproportion  between  the  sound  and  un- 
sound elements  in  the  body  politic. 

That  our  nation  contains  within  itself  a  fearful 
amount  of  corruption  cannot  be  denied.  But  that 
there  is  any  such  recent  and  disproportionate  in- 
crease of  it  as  to  account  for  the  frequent  occur- 
rence of  such  riots  as  have  of  late  disgraced  us  in 
the  eyes  of  the  world  I  cannot  believe.  The  true 
N 


146  ALTON   RIOTS. 

reason,  as  it  seems  to  me,  is  this;  a  division  among 
good  men  on  a  question  adapted  to  test  the  power 
of  our  institutions  to  the  uttermost.  It  is  not  be- 
cause our  institutions  have  not  great  power — power 
enough  to  resist  almost  any  common  assault.  But 
the  power  by  which  they  are  now  assailed  is  no 
common  power.  It  is  one  of  fearful  and  tremen- 
dous energy.  And  as  if  this  were  not  enough,  at 
the  very  hour  when  the  united  energies  of  all  their 
friends  are  needed  to  sustain  them;  there  is  a  por- 
tentous division  among  the  best  portions  of  the 
community.  Those  who  on  all  great  moral  ques- 
tions have  been  wont  to  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder 
are  now  found  in  opposing  ranks,  and  good  men 
speak  of  good  men  with  a  bitterness  and  contempt 
that  tends  to  ruin  their  influence  and  utterly  to  neu- 
tralize their  moral  power  over  the  intellect  and  con- 
science of  the  community.  Let  us  look  at  the  facts 
of  the  case. 

The  convictions  of  our  community  as  it  regards 
the  right  of  free  inquiry  are  deep  and  general.  In 
nothing  as  a  nation  have  we  gloried  more.  And  it 
would  have  seemed  an  utter  impossibility  a  few 
years  ago,  that  any  one,  even  the  most  degraded, 
should  think  of  calling  in  question  this  right.  And 
had  any  foreigner  hinted  that  the  time  would  come 
when,  in  any  part  of  this  nation,  a  great  moral 
question  could  not  be  fearlessly  discussed,  much 
more  that  the  free  range  of  the  intellect  was  to  be 
limited  and  the  tongue  to  be  palsied  by  the  terrors 
of  death,  he  would  have  been  spurned  from  our 


ALTON    RIOTS.  547 

shores  as  a  base  slanderer  of  "  the  land  of  the  free 
and  the  home  of  the  brave." 

Alas,  it  is  now  no  dream  of  the  imagination:  it 
is  no  slander  of  a  foreign  tongue.  It  is  but  too 
faithful  a  record  of  the  present  and  the  past,  chron- 
icled on  the  undying  scroll  of  history  in  letters  of 
crimson  gore.  The  voice  of  blood  that  goes  up 
to  heaven  from  the  grave  of  the  murdered  Lovejoy, 
the  united  clamors  of  a  guilty  nation  can  never 
drown.  Like  the  thunder  of  the  Almighty  it 
arouses  the  nations,  and  proclaims  our  infamy  from 
shore  to  shore. 

And  how  has  a  reverse  so  astounding  taken 
place  in  so  short  a  time?  Listen:  the  record  is 
brief  and  simple. 

In  the  very  foundation  of  our  nation,  an  element 
•was  allowed  to  remain  that  will  not  endure  free 
discussion.  And  the  enlightened  public  sentiment 
of  the  world,  under  the  guidance  of  the  spirit  of  God, 
is  calling  on  the  nation  to  look  this  matter  directly 
in  the  face :  to  view  the  system  in  the  light  of  eter- 
nal and  immutable  truth,  and  all  that  will  not  en- 
dure this  scrutiny  at  once  to  remove.  It  demands 
nothing  but  the  right  fully  to  discuss  the  subject, 
and  to  present  the  only  true,  philosophical,  efficient 
and  safe  remedy  for  the  evil.  The  object  is  not  to 
compel  but  to  convince.  Not  to  interfere  with  the 
legal  rights  of  any  one;  but  to  induce  those  who 
have  the  power  of  legislation  to  use  it  aright. 

Now  though  this  requisition  comes  in  collision 
with  interest,  passion  and  prejudice  of  incalculable 
strength  ;  yet,  so  deep  is  the  conviction  of  our 


148  ALTON    RIOTS. 

nation  of  the  sacredness  of  the  rights  of  free  inquiry, 
so  deeply  is  this  feeling  rooted  in  the  elements  of 
her  existence,  that  if  the  intelligent  and  the  good 
were  but  firmly  united  in  their  purpose  to  maintain 
the  right,  no  power  on  earth  could  overthrow  it. 
And  even  now,  if  it  is  overthrown  it  will  be  in  the 
midst  of  tremendous  convulsions  and  agonies  and 
waitings  of  despair,  as  when  a  nation  dies. 

But  alas  for  our  nation,  at  the  very  hour  when 
this  discussion  arose  a  cloud  of  error  and  prejudice, 
deep  and  dense,  had  settled  on  the  land.  The 
eyes  of  the  good  were  turned  entirely  away  from 
those  simple  principles  of  truth  on  which  alone  the 
peaceful  remedy  of  the  evil  depends,  to  visionary 
schemes  of  remedy  which  guide  to  bewilder  and 
lead  to  betray.  And  when  the  true  principles  were 
proclaimed  they  came  not  from  the  leading  heads 
of  influence  in  the  land;  and  were  attended  with 
errors  or  defects  of  spirit.  And  the  Christian  com- 
munity instead  of  receiving  the  truth  on  its  own 
evidence,  and  endeavoring  by  a  kind  influence  to 
remove  the  errors  or  imperfections;  to  a  very  great 
extent  treated  the  whole  with  ridicule,  bitterness 
and  scorn. 

If  it  is  said  that  violent  attacks  were  made  by 
them  on  a  leading  benevolent  society;  I  reply,  it 
was  not  until  leading  members  of  that  society  had 
bitterly  attacked  them;  and  the  war,  even  if  censur- 
able in  spirit,  was  but  a  war  of  self-defense.  They 
found  themselves  and  all  their  plans  assailed  by  a 
society  embodying  a  large  portion  of  the  wealth 
and  intellect  of  the  Christian  community.  More- 


ALTON    RIOTS.  149 

over,  the  obligations  to  magnanimity,  generosity 
and  self-control  always  rest  with  greater  force  on  a 
majority  than  on  a  small  minority.  And  if  they  re- 
garded this  minority  as  weak,  deluded  and  fanatical 
men,  still,  they  were  as  a  body,  simple  hearted 
Christians,  aiming  in  their  own  judgment  at  an  ob- 
ject of  infinite  moment:  and  scorn  and  contempt 
had  no  tendencies  to  enlighten  their  minds  or  en- 
large their  views.  If  this  vast  majority  were  strong, 
they  ought  surely  to  have  borne  with  the  infirmities 
of  the  weak;  and  not  to  please  themselves. 

But  what  shall  we  say,  if  it  shall  turn  out  to  be 
the  fact  that  these  despised  men  were  in  possession 
of  the  truth;  and  that  it  was  in  the  main,  zeal  for 
important  truth,  clearly  seen  and  deeply  felt,  that 
urged  them  on  ?  Even  this  is  no  apology  for  a 
bad  spirit,  wherever  or  whenever  shown.  But  if  it 
is  true,  that  there  was  bad  spirit  on  both  sides,  and 
the  only  difference  is  this,  that  on  one  side  was  zeal 
for  the  truth,  marred  indeed  by  imperfections;  and 
on  the  other  side  an  equally  defective  zeal  against 
the  truth;  on  which  side  does  the  balance  of  merit 
lie? 

This  is  said  on  the  supposition  that  the  spirit  of 
each  side  was  equally  censurable.  But  when  I  re- 
member how  much  has  been  set  down  as  said  in  a 
bad  spirit,  simply  because  it  was  an  energetic  dec- 
laration of  truth  in  advance  of  the  blinded  minds 
of  the  hearers;  and  which  for  that  reason  seemed 
to  them  the  ravings  of  fanaticism,  though  a  purer 
age  will  pronounce  it  the  simple  truth,  even  as  we 
all,  now,  admit  that  the  slave-trade  is  piracy,  though 
N  2 


150  ALTON    RIOTS. 

when  first  attacked  it  was  deemed  the  highest  of 
fanaticism  to  say  so — when  I  remember  this,  1  am 
constrained  to  say  that  many  of  the  leading  oppo- 
nents of  the  abolitionists  have  manifested  more  of 
a  bad  spirit  than  those  whom  they  have  opposed; 
and  in  circumstances  admitting  far  less  excuse.  It 
has  been  indeed  of  a  different  kind,  and  far  less  li- 
able to  attract  the  notice  and  incur  the  censure  of  a 
degenerate  age.  It  has  been  the  lofty,  refined  and 
contemptuous  bad  spirit  of  the  majority  of  the  educa- 
ted, intelligent,  wealthy  and  Christian  community, 
who  scarcely  deemed  the  fanatical  minority  whom 
they  despised,  as  worthy  of  notice,  except  in  some 
exquisitely  polished  sneer. 

But  the  withering  influence  of  such  a  public  sen- 
timent on  its  hapless  victims  who  does  not  know  ? 
If  its  power  were  equal  to  its  malignity  it  would 
scathe  them  like  the  lightning  of  heaven.  No  ele- 
ment of  fanaticism  is  so  pungent  as  this.  There  is 
more,  condensed  venom  in  a  few  words  of  refined 
and  pointed  scorn,  uttered  by  some  intelligent  states- 
man or  divine,  than  in  whole  volumes  of  vulgar 
abuse.  Nothing  is  so  malignant  in  its  influence: 
nothing  so  hard  to  elude  or  to  resist. 

Now,  when  all  this  withering  influence  is  direct- 
ed against  a  class  of  men  whom  a  corrupt  portion 
of  the  community  are  predisposed  to.  regard  with 
deadly  hatred  merely  as  pious  men;  and  against 
whom  the  odium  of  a  work  of  reform  which  touch- 
ed the  very  vitals  of  the  nation,  was  rolling  deep 
and  strong;  what  earthly  power  can  withstand  the 
shock  ? 


ALTON    RIOTS.  jfrj 

No  laws,  no  charters,  no  constitutions,  no  sacred 
guaranties  of  rights  can  long  withstand  an  attack  so 
tremendous.  On  no  point  were  the  feelings  of  our 
nation  so  deep,  so  undivided,  as  on  the  sacred  right 
of  a  free  press.  It  was  regarded,  and  that  justly, 
too,  as  the  vital  and  essential  principle  of  our  na- 
tion's life  :  the  very  heart  from  which  the  bounding 
tides  of  a  nation's  life  blood  flow.  But  against  this 
has  the  attack  been  made  :  and  though  with  death- 
like struggles  on  the  part  of  its  brave  defenders,  the 
enemies  of  liberty  have  won  the  day.  The  citadel 
of  freedom  has  been  stormed;  the  palladium  of  a 
nation's  safety  seized  and  destroyed;  and  the  blood 
of  one  of  its  noblest  defenders  poured  upon  the 
ground — whilst  the  fiends  of  hell  held  high  carni- 
val around  the  gory  altar  of  the  demon  of  misrule. 
£•  And  could  this  guilty  triumph  have  been  gained 
had  it  not  been  for  the  divisions  among  the  good  ? 
No,  never.  Had  they  been  united,  they  had  a  van- 
tage ground  in  the  deep  feelings  of  a  nation's  heart 
from  which  no  earthly  power  could  have  driven 
them:  and  it  was  not  until  they  divided  and  turned 
their  hands  against  each  other  that  the  mournful 
consummation  could  be  achieved. 

It  is  not  because  there  is  less  moral  power  in  Al- 
ton than  in  any  other  place  in  this  state,  that  it  has 
become  the  theatre  of  a  tragedy  so  bloody.  In 
truth,  there  was  no  place  within  the  state  which  for 
its  moral  worth  was  more  highly  regarded:  and  this 
opinion  was  just.  And  had  the  good  remained 
united,  this  tragedy  had  never  occurred.  There 
was  moral  power  enough  hi  Alton,  twice  told,  to 


152  ALTON    RIOTS. 

have  repressed  all  outbreaking  violence  of  any 
mob,  had  it  but  been  united.  But  in  a  large  por- 
tion of  intelligent  men,  and  even  professed  Chris- 
tians, there  was  a  bitterness  against  those  who  were 
already  the  objects  of  popular  odium,  which  they 
took  no  pains  to  conceal.  Yea,  many  of  them  took 
special  pains  to  make  it  known.  And  the  full 
power  of  this  feeling  I  had  occasion  to  know. — 
From  the  moment  that  insinuations  and  charges 
tending  to  fill  the  public  mind  with  suspicion  and 
odium  were  proclaimed  abroad  by  ministers  and 
leading  men,  all  efforts  to  maintain  our  rights  were 
vain.  The  wicked  felt  that  there  was  no  power  to 
restrain  them;  and  the  tide  of  violence  became  deep 
and  strong. 

Nor  was  it  from  Alton  alone  that  this  deadly 
influence  of  good  men  originated.  Alton  did  but 
sympathise  with  a  more  extended  circle  of  feeling 
in  all  parts  of  our  land;  and  though  I  would  by  no 
means  apologize  for  the  sins  of  any  of  our  citizens ; 
I  will  say,  that  the  result  at  Alton  was  but  the  de- 
velopment of  influences  which  set  in  upon  her  like 
a  tide  from  every  portion  of  our  land.  And  if  God 
shall  put  the  cup  of  his  wrath  into  the  hand  of  every 
man  who  deserves  to  drink  it,  what  multitudes  will 
be  found  in  every  portion  of  our  land  who  may  not 
escape  a  fearful  retribution  ! 


ALTON    RIOTS  153 


CHAPTER  IX. 

The  essential  criminality  of  that  division  from 
which  such  results  flow;  and  of  the  feelings  of  con- 
tempt, prejudice,  or  hostility  which  it  has  produced j 
may  still  more  clearly  be  evinced  by  its  power  in 
blinding  the  mind  to  the  great  principles  of  truth  as 
involved  in  the  right  of  free  inquiry,  and  the  duty 
of  maintaining  the  laws  at  all  hazards.  Who  in  a 
truly  Christian  and  benevolent  state  of  mind  could 
ever  have  promulgated  such  miserable  subterfuges 
to  evade  the  claims  of  their  fellow  citizens  to  the 
rights  of  speech  and  of  protection  by  law,  as  have 
lately  been  put  forth — to  the  amazement  of  all  re- 
jecting men  ?  That  the  right  to  speak  or  print  is 
not  to  be  exercised  in  any  case  where  it  would  out- 
rage the  feelings  of  the  community.  As  if  the  will 
of  a  majority  were  the  criterion  of  right  and  wrong: 
or,  as  if  in  no  case  duty  to  God  could  require  any 
man  to  go  against  the  will  or  feelings  of  a  sinful 
world. 

So,  too,  we  are  told  that  the  men  who  give  occa- 
sion to  mobs  are  as  much  to  be  dreaded  as  those 
who  make  them:  as  if  it  were  an  assumed  principle 
that  no  one  in  doing  the  will  of  God  could  ever  give 
occasion  to  a  mob. 

Is  it  not  amazing  that  the  promulgators  of  such 
sentiments  do  not  remember  that  they  only  embol- 
den the  wicked  to  make  mobs  ?  All  know  that 
when  the  wicked  outrage  the  moral  feelings  of  the 


154  ALTON   RIOTS. 

good  ever  so  grossly,  it  makes  no  mobs.  Atheism, 
infidelity  and  lewdness  may  go  out  with  unblushing 
front  to  corrupt  the  community;  and  no  mob  is  rais- 
ed against  them:  for  good  men  have  too  much  con- 
science to  raise  mobs.  But  the  moment  a  good  man 
attempts  an  unpopular  reformation  of  gross  abuses 
he  is  mobbed  :  and  a  large  circle  of  Christians  say, 
the  mob  is  wrong  to  be  sure,  but  he  deserves  no 
sympathy,  he  was  so  rash  and  imprudent. 

And  is  it  the  prevailing  error  of  good  men  to  op- 
pose evil  too  boldly;  and  continually  to  outrage  the 
sinful  feelings  of  an  evil  world  ?  And  is  it  true 
that  if  Christians  were  united  the  imprudences  of 
the  few  who  are  over-zealous  could  do  so  much  to 
excite  mobs  and  prostrate  law  that  they  could  not 
easily  control  its  influence  ?  And  can  any  thing 
render  mobs  so  sure  as  for  a  large  portion  of  pro- 
fessed Christians  to  censure  a  zealous  minority  of  re- 
formers as  the  guilty  causes  of  mobs,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  those  who  are  wishing  some  pretext  for 
wreaking  their  vengeance  on  them  ?  The  truth  is, 
if  good  men  were  united  no  imprudences  of  a  small 
portion  of  their  number  could  raise  a  mob.  It  is 
only  when  they  throw  their  influence  against  the 
protection  of  that  small  number,  and  by  the  exhibi- 
tion of  their  own  feelings,  give  intensity  to  those  of 
the  mob,  that  all  the  barriers  of  the  law  give  way. 
What  can  be  expected  but  ruin  when  one  portion 
of  good  men  are  so  deeply  prejudiced  against  an- 
other as.  to  feel  that  however  great  a  calam  ty  it  is 
to  have  law  give  way,  it  is  a  deeper  calamity  to 
maintain  it,  if  it  involves  the  protection  of  their 


ALTON    RIOTS.  155 

rights  ?  Yet  this  is  the  solution  of  many  a  rnob. 
It  is  the  solution  of  the  mob  at  Alton. 

And  what  but  a  wicked  state  of  feeling  can  give 
rise  to  blindness  so  amazing  ?  Did  a  sense  of  the 
presence  of  God,  and  holy  communion  with  him 
ever  give  rise  to  such  miserable  and  sophistical  de- 
lusions ?  No.  God  is  the  God  of  law,  of  justice, 
and  of  order.  And  in  his  sight  no  crime  is  so  hein- 
ous as  to  attempt  or  connive  at  the  radical  prostra- 
tion of  law  and  right.  He  who  stands  by  the  body 
of  a  murdered  father,  will  never  alleviate  the  guilt 
of  the  assassin  who  shed  his  blood,  by  a  lisp  of  a 
few  unguarded  words  which  provoked  the  deed.  But 
in  the  eye  of  God  when  the  law  is  prostrated,  a  na- 
tion is  slain  :  and  he  who  aims  an  impious  hand  at 
the  sacred  rights  of  a  fellow  man,  strikes  a  blow  not 
merely  at  him,  but  at  his  country's  heart.  And 
were  not  the  mind  deadened  by  unholy  alienation 
of  feeling,  and  the  vision  dimmed  by  the  films  of 
sinful  prejudice,  the  atrocity  of  the  deed  would  leave 
no  room  for  any  feelings  but  those  of  indignation, 
nor  for  any  words  but  those  of  rebuke. 

I  repeat  it,  therefore,  that  the  prostration  of  law 
is  owing  wholly  to  divisions  among  good  men.  And 
if  its  power  is  finally  and  forever  lost,  and  if  a  del- 
uge of  anarchy  and  blood  shall  desolate  our  land, 
it  will  be  a  part  of  the  mournful  record  of  the  his- 
toric page,  that,  not  the  abandoned  or  profane,  not 
the  vile  and  polluted,  but  the  wise  and  the  good,  de- 
luded and  deceived  by  Satan,  threw  open  the  flood- 
gates and  let  the  dreadful  deluge  in. 

And  shall  a  consummation  so  terrific  ingloriously 


156  ALTON   RIOTS. 

close  our  brief  career?  Shall  we  as  a  nation  sub- 
serve no  higher  end  than  to  stand  forth  as  a  beacon 
and  a  warning  to  the  nations  of  the  earth,  as  the 
smoke  of  our  torment,  and  the  voice  of  our  wailings 
go  up  together  ? 

If  not,  the  voice  of  God  must  be  heard.  In  tones 
of  thunder  He  speaks  from  the  silence  of  the 
grave  !  And  if  this  event  cannot  rouse  us  to 
thought,  nothing  can.  We  are  gone. 

What  then  shall  be  done  ?  Good  men  must 
unite,  not  on  policy  or  on  compromise,  but  on  the 
truth.  All  prejudice,  all  passion  must  be  laid  aside; 
and  under  the  sacred  guidance  of  the  spirit  of  God, 
we  must  dig  down  to  the  deep  and  immutable  foun- 
dations of  eternal  truth.  Nothing  else  accords  with 
the  age  of  the  world  in  which  we  live,  or  with  the 
revealed  purposes  of  Almighty  God. 

The  principles  of  individual  rights,  such  as  grow 
out  of  the  nature  of  the  human  mind  are  as  immu- 
table and  eternal  as  the  throne  of  God;  and  to  be 
united,  all  Christians  must  adopt  them.  He  who 
sees  these  principles  knows  their  truth;  and  he  can- 
not divide  from  God  and  the  truth  to  unite  with 
those  who  see  them  not.  No.  The  only  basis  of 
lasting  union  is  the  truth ;  and  if  any  refuse  to  ad- 
mit the  truth  and  to  coincide  with  God,  the  guilt  of 
the  division  must  rest  on  them. 

It  is  vain  here  to  say,  that  this  age  of  the  world 
needs  nothing  but  the  preaching  of  the  gospel. 
Most  fully  do  I  admit  that  nothing  is  needed  but 
fully  to  unfold  the  principles  of  the  gospel,  and  to 
apply  them  to  every  department  of  life.  But  the  great 


ALTON  RIOTS.  157 

question  of  the  age  is:  What  do  the  principles  of 
Christianity  say  on  this  subject  ?  Do  they  tolerate 
slavery;  or  cut  it  up  root  and  branch  ?  Indeed,  un- 
til this  question  is  decided  no  man  can  tell  what  the 
gospel  is.  If,  indeed,  the  gospel  authorizes,  or  does 
not  condemn,  and  call  for  the  immediate  abandon- 
ment of  a  system,  which  fundamentally  subverts 
every  principle  of  right,  the  infidel  wishes  to  know 
it;  for  he  need  ask  no  better  reason  to  scorn  its  pre- 
tensions to  be  a  message  from  God.  But  if  it  re- 
bukes this  with  divine  authority,  as  it  does  all  other 
sins,  and  requires  its  immediate  abandonment,  then 
it  is  time  for  the  church  to  know  it,  and  fully  to  de- 
clare all  the  counsel  of  God. 

I  do  not  ask  for  unholy  excitement  or  misguided 
zeal.  I  ask  for  that  fear  of  God  which  shall  sus- 
pend all  other  fear;  and  that  holy  courage  and 
coolness  and  clearness  of  thought  which  nothing  but 
his  spirit  can  give.  I  ask  for  no  needlessly  irrita- 
ting language,  or  unkind  denunciations:  but  for 
that  holy,  kind  and  free  inquiry,  and  candid  com- 
parison of  views,  which  would  take  place  if  we 
were  to  stand  together  before  the  throne  of  God  and 
under  the  influence  of  mutual  love. 

It  is  the  horror  of  this  age  that  on  a  subject  so 
vast,  there  are  those  who  will  not  inquire  at  all; 
and  threaten  with  odium  or  death  all  who  will.  It 
is  happy  for  the  world  that  they  cannot  intimidate 
or  silence  the  Almighty.  Vain  men  !  What  do 
they  hope  for;  at  what  do  they  aim  ?  can  they 
arrest  the  current  of  the  universe  ?  Can  they  con- 
tend with  the  eternal  God  ? 
0 


158  ALTON   KIOTS. 

It  is  time  for  those  who  desire  not  to  be  crushed 
by  the  movements  of  God,  to  arouse  themselves  to 
prayer  and  thought.  The  individual  right  of  free 
inquiry  and  speech  is  his  great  instrument  for  reno- 
vating the  world.  Governments  are  designed  main- 
ly to  defend  individual  rights,  and  the  power  of  the 
magistrate  is  given  him  by  God;  and  as  God's  min- 
ister it  is  his  duty  to  act  in  maintaining  law.  And 
the  horrid  doctrine  which  gives  to  a  mere  numerical 
majority,  the  power  against  law  to  trample  on  indi- 
vidual right,  is  high  handed  rebellion  against  God. 

It  is  high  time  that  all  delusion  on  this  subject 
should  cease  :  and  that  the  right  of  free  discussion 
should  be  seen  in  a  higher  and  holier  light  than  as  a 
mere  personal  privilege.  It  is  the  demand  of  God 
that  man  shall  be  left  free  to  hear  his  voice  and  obey 
his  will :  and  he  who  attempts  to  stand  between 
the  soul  of  any  man  and  his  Maker,  must  expect  to 
incur  the  wrath  of  God.  God  insists  upon  it  that 
no  individual,  or  community,  or  law  shall  obstruct 
the  passage  of  his  messages  from  man  to  man. 

It  is  the  deep  feeling  of  this  truth  which  is  the 
source  of  all  the  true  freedom  which  this  world  ever 
saw  or  enjoyed.  All  true  freedom  came  through 
holy  men  and  by  such  it  must  be  preserved.  In  our 
land  through  the  love  of  fame,  or  power,  or  money, 
the  native  energy  of  the  principle  is  dying  away, 
and  a  corrupt  and  tyrannical  public  sentiment  is 
making  us  slaves.  The  people  of  God  need  a  fresh 
baptism  from  on  high.  They  need  to  kindle  again 
the  holy  flame  of  freedom  at  the  altar  of  God. 

The  exigency  calls  for  no  unholy  spirit  of  defi- 


ALTON    RIOTS.  15Q 

ance,  no  resentment  for  injuries  and  wrongs,  and  no 
spirit  of  revenge  over  the  grave  of  the  dead.  The 
spirit  of  Lovejoy  was  that  of  forgiving  love,  and 
let  no  other  be  kindled  at  his  grave.  Let  no  resent- 
ment embitter  the  nation  :  let  all  be  kind  and  ten- 
der and  gentle,  and  ready  to  forgive.  But  let  the 
strength  of  holy  purpose  become  daily  more  intense 
for  God  and  for  the  right  to  know,  to  proclaim,  and 
to  do  his  will : — for  this  to  live,  and  for  this,  if  need 
be,  to  die. 

I  am  sure  that  if  good  men  would  thus  come 
near  to  God,  they  could  not  long  remain  divided 
from  each  other.  Prejudices  would  be  renounced, 
concessions  and  confessions  be  made;  and  that  not 
merely  on  one  side  but  by  all.  Nor  would  the  ques- 
tion be  who  should  concede  most,  for  each  would 
be  willing  to  concede  all  that  is  wrong  in  himself, 
and  to  acknowledge  all  that  is  right  in  others.  If 
thus  united  our  liberties  are  sure,  our  nation  is  safe. 
We  can  ask  nothing  better  than  our  own  institutions 
if  they  can  be  maintained  in  their  true  spirit,  and 
used  for  their  true  ends,  in  the  fear  of  God. 

And  that  we  shall  be  able  to  do  it  I  do  not  des- 
pair. There  is  intelligence  and  conscience,  and  re- 
ligion enough  to  save  our  nation,  if  they  can  be 
brought  into  action  with  united  power.  And  I 
confide  in  God  that  it  will  at  last  be  done  :  that  one 
warning  so  dreadful  will  be  enough  :  and  that  by 
timely  repentance  we  shall  escape  the  impend  ing 
judgments  of  God. 

THE  END. 


